


something to take the edge off

by TheNutcase



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Blood Drinking, But kind of, Don't know what to tag this one tbh, F/F, Sexual Tension, Smut, not-exactly-smut, wait now there's actually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:13:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27532819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNutcase/pseuds/TheNutcase
Summary: “I need you to…,” Hope started, her voice tight and restrained like it was difficult to get the words out. “Siphon from me.”Josie stilled. She glanced down at their hands. “Siphon... from you?” she echoed, confused. “For what?”Hope gulped. “Nothing in particular,” she squeaked with a tense shrug, trying and failing to seem nonchalant. “Or, well, whatever you need the power for, I guess.”Josie stared at Hope for a long moment, studying her. “I’m... confused,” she said slowly. “Why would you want me to siphon from you if it’s not for a spell?”“Because it feels good,” Hope blurted out.Or,Hope triggers her vamp side and is perpetually one step away from exploding in a fit of rage. Then, she finds out that Josie is the only one who can calm her down.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 234
Kudos: 1214





	1. Chapter 1

Hope Mikaelson lost her life on her 21st birthday.

She died in a rather dramatic and self-sacrificial way. She threw herself right into the line of fire during a particularly violent monster attack, and there was slightly too much damage for her werewolf healing to undo.

It wasn’t much of a shock to her, and it certainly didn't shock anyone else. It was pretty much inevitable that she’d die in that way if she ever died at all. Her decision to remain at the Salvatore School sealed her fate. 

Right after graduation, she’d practically become Alaric’s monster-fighting intern.

The same couldn’t be said for Lizzie, who immediately began to obsess over her desire to have a “normal college experience”. No one seemed inclined to try to take that right away from her.

Lizzie wanted Josie to go with her, but Josie’s morals wouldn’t allow her to leave people she cared about behind in the most dangerous place in the world. Josie argued that it would be a good exercise for their independence. She decided to stay at the Salvatore School and take a few classes online instead.

Alaric was short staffed, after all. Emma and Dorian were gone, so he was pretty much the only adult left. It was helpful to have Josie around to teach a few classes while he struggled to find replacements.

Which all summed up to mean that Josie had been there to witness Hope’s violent death.

Hope tried to look at the bright side. At least she’d died at an age where it was legal for her to do most things. At least she was immortal and came back as a vampire.

Except, that apparently wasn’t such a good thing, as it turned out.

Everyone seemed to be paying a lot of attention to her ever since she transitioned. Josie kept watching her, almost like she was irrationally worried that Hope might die again. Alaric was also watching her like a hawk, completely unsure of what to expect from the first fully activated tribrid in the world. 

And he was right to be concerned, Hope realized.

Because Hope felt like she was about to explode.

She felt like a live wire. Ever since the moment she transitioned, she’d been borderline overflowing with magic. She found herself unable to sleep, perpetually on the edge of snapping. She was extremely irritable, propelled into a violent fantasy by the slightest inconvenience.

Like when some random wolf boy bumped into her in the hallway.

“Watch it, Mikaelson,” the boy snapped with a snarl, his chest puffing out as a challenge. He must’ve been trying to impress his friends—there were four boys standing behind him, glancing at each other warily.

Hope tensed. It took a matter of seconds for her to become enraged. Her body reacted before she even realized it. Her eyes flashed gold and suddenly she was seething.

Seething intensely enough for the air to crackle with magic—for black veins to ripple around her eyes.

The boy’s eyes widened. He took a couple hurried steps back.

Hope didn't let him get away. She stalked forward like a predator after prey, until he was pressed tightly against the wall. “Who the hell are you?” she growled, her words slightly slurred from the way they were curling around her fangs.

The boy looked like he was about to piss himself. His eyes darted around looking for support, but his friends were all avoiding eye contact and trying to subtly get farther away from the confrontation. “S-sorry, I…,” he squeaked. “I didn’t mean it.”

Hope cocked her head to the side. Her lips curled up into a sadistic smirk, like she was reveling in the boy’s fear. “Speak to me like that again,” she started dangerously. “And I’ll tear you limb from limb while your friends watch.”

The boy only gulped, his eyes wide and frantic.

“Do you understand?” Hope snapped.

A voice interrupted then—a familiar, calming voice. “Hope,” Josie called out from behind them.

Hope felt a hand wrap around her wrist, firmly tugging her back a step to give the boy some room to breathe. 

Hope looked at Josie, but it took her a moment to snap out of it. Her eyes stayed gold for a beat before she registered who she was looking at. Then, she remembered herself, blinking the gold away and averting eye contact.

Josie's expression was unreadable. She turned to look at the boy when she spoke. “Go to class,” she ordered, leaving no room for argument.

The boy didn’t hesitate, practically sprinting away down the hall with his friends close behind him.

Josie turned back to look at Hope. “What the hell's going on?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.

Hope blinked. “Nothing,” she said.

Josie scoffed. “Oh, yeah?” she replied. “It didn’t seem like nothing. What was that?”

Hope scowled, realizing she was in trouble. “He started it,” she mumbled defiantly, averting eye contact.

“Seriously?” Josie snapped. She waved an arm in the general direction that the boy had disappeared in. “We’re not even students anymore, Hope. You can’t be getting into power struggles with… with teenage boys.”

“Just drop it, Josie,” Hope ordered. “I’m fine.”

Josie's eyes narrowed. "You're not fine and we both know it," she accused, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Hope froze.

Josie's eyes softened and she let out an exasperated sigh, stepping closer. "Hope, I can't help you if you won't talk to me," she said quietly, practically begging Hope to confide in her.

"Then stop trying to," Hope snapped reflexively.

Josie physically flinched. Hope nearly flinched, too, and might've if she wasn't so tense.

Hope stormed away, unable to stomach the way Josie looked so hurt.

It's not that Hope didn't want to ask Josie for help, after all. It's just that she didn't think Josie could help her.

* * *

Hope had never related more to her father. Being a vampire and a werewolf at the same time wasn’t easy—not at all. 

And adding a witch’s power to the mix made it even harder.

One being wasn’t supposed to have so much power, she was quickly realizing. She didn’t know how she was supposed to live like this—not that she had much of a choice in the matter. 

She tried everything. The only thing that slightly calmed her down was when she wolfed out and ran herself to exhaustion. But even then, she was still struck by a deep, pervasive sense of restlessness.

Apparently, that feeling was going to be the backdrop for every moment of her life now.

Or so she thought.

Hope wasn’t even focused on looking for it when she found the solution.

There was a new monster—an ugly one. Hope was secretly excited about it. Monster fighting would be a good distraction, at the very least. And she was hoping that it might drain some of her energy so that she could get some sleep.

She hadn't slept all week.

The monster was massive, but its strength seemed to be purely physical, much like the Shunka. Its weakness was fire, according to Alaric’s research—and that’s really all Hope felt the need to know about it.

The only issue was how to light such a big thing on fire.

Hope and Josie were on the front lines to face it. They'd been chasing the thing around in circles for a while. Hope could probably go on forever with her new boundless energy—but Josie seemed to be getting tired, so Hope knew it was about time to wrap it up.

Hope held her hand out. “Josie, take my hand,” she commanded.

Josie didn’t hesitate, closing the distance between them in less than a second. She grabbed Hope’s hand and began to siphon.

Hope let out a heavy sigh at the same moment Josie sucked in a sharp gasp.

Josie was blindsided by the fact that Hope’s magic felt so _different_. It was Josie’s first time siphoning from Hope since her transition, and the magic was way more potent than ever before. 

It had heat—it had substance. It was unlike anything Josie had ever siphoned from before.

It made her feel almost euphoric.

Hope was just as blindsided by the flood of relief. Her transition had left her feeling like the power in her was bursting at the seams. But with Josie drawing on her power, she felt all of that energy suddenly receding like a wave.

Josie didn’t even have to say a word. She just looked at the monster and it spontaneously burst into flames, collapsing to the ground with a sickening screech.

Josie stared in awe, even as Hope stood beside her with her eyes clenched shut, seemingly unaware of what was going on around her.

Josie stopped siphoning and dropped Hope’s hand, turning to stare at Hope like she’d been shocked. There were quite a few alarming things about the experience—the bizarre feeling of siphoning Hope’s power, for one, and the strength of the nonverbal spell that Josie hadn’t fully intended to do.

Hope didn’t look as shocked. She was more dazed than anything. She almost felt as if she’d been sedated. The relief of the tension that she’d been suspended in for so long had her wanting nothing more than a long power nap.

Her eyes fluttered open after a long moment and she found Josie already staring at her. “I, uh...,” Hope grunted, her voice husky and rough. She paused, unsure what to say. “Thanks for your help.”

Josie blinked, confused herself. She felt a little bit high, like she just drank a whole pot of coffee or went skydiving or both. “Anytime,” she blurted out gracelessly.

Josie scurried away, unable to find the courage to talk about it.

* * *

Hope slept like a baby that night, and the nights that followed.

The same couldn’t be said for Josie, who couldn't stop tossing and turning.

She couldn’t stop thinking, either.

Specifically, she couldn’t stop thinking about siphoning from Hope Mikaelson.

She hadn’t been able to focus on anything else all week. She kept reliving the scene in her mind, trying to pinpoint how it felt. It was magic unlike any she’d ever felt before, and she couldn’t stop obsessing over when she’d get to feel it again.

She’d always had a bit of an addictive personality.

The experience left her feeling completely preoccupied. She could barely pay attention when her students were talking to her.

It wasn’t boding well for her online classes, either.

That’s why, on Friday, she intended to lock herself in her room until she finished an essay. 

She was unlocking her bedroom door, about to do just that, when she suddenly felt a presence approach her from behind. Instinctively, she spun around, bracing a hand on the wall and siphoning as though she were afraid that she was about to face a monster. 

Josie relaxed when she found only Hope there. “Hope,” she breathed in relief, her hand over her heart. “You scared me.”

Hope smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. “Sorry,” she replied. “Still getting used to the—well, the vampire thing.”

“Right,” Josie replied. She watched Hope closely with a little, concerned frown. Hope was averting eye contact. She seemed nervous, for some reason.

Hope cleared her throat. “I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” she said awkwardly.

Josie raised an eyebrow. “About what?” she asked.

Hope’s mouth opened and closed. She looked a bit like a deer in headlights. “About…,” she trailed off, her gaze nervously darting down the hallway to see if anyone was listening. “The… um, can we go inside?”

Josie blinked, confused. She nodded, though, opening the door and leading Hope inside.

Josie shut the door behind them and turned to face Hope, taking a few steps further into the room. “What’s wrong?”

Hope definitely looked nervous now—very nervous. She was fidgeting with her hands and staring down at them as if they were interesting. “Josie, I need your help with something,” she eventually blurted out, unable to make eye contact.

Josie pouted, concerned. “Okay,” she answered slowly, taking a careful step closer. “What is it?”

Hope swallowed thickly. “Well… I… just need…,” she started, her eyes uncertain and her face a little pale. She seemed to doubt herself, blinking and shaking her head after a pause. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea, actually.”

Hope tried to move around Josie and slip out the door. Josie grabbed her wrist as she passed, halting her in her tracks before she could leave. “Hope,” she said sternly. “It’s okay. Tell me what you need.”

Hope stared at the place where their skin was touching, looking even more panicky than before. She hesitated. “I need you to…,” she started, her voice tight and restrained like it was difficult for her to get the words out. “Siphon from me.”

Josie stilled. She glanced down at their hands. “Siphon... from you?” she echoed, confused. “For what?”

Hope gulped. “Nothing in particular,” she squeaked with a tense shrug, trying and failing to seem nonchalant. “Or, well, whatever you need the power for, I guess.”

Josie stared at Hope for a long moment, studying her. “I’m... confused,” she said slowly. “Why would you want me to siphon from you if it’s not for a spell?”

“Because it feels good,” Hope blurted out.

Josie froze, her mouth running dry. They fell into a heavy, awkward silence. Josie blatantly stared and Hope avoided eye contact. “What?” Josie eventually said.

Hope blushed and deflated, obviously mortified. “Look, Jo, I know it’s weird,” she practically whined. “I’ve just been feeling… on edge. Restless. Since I turned. I get angry quicker. And I feel like I have less control over myself, like I’m gonna explode. But... last week, when we fought that thing and you siphoned from me… it helped.”

Josie blinked. She’d never seen this side of Hope before, so nervous and embarrassed. She was struggling to process it. “It did?” she asked, in disbelief.

Hope practically flinched to have to admit it. “Yeah,” she replied quietly. “It… took the edge off.”

“It did,” Josie repeated, more a bewildered statement than a question.

Hope relaxed a little bit, since Josie wasn't completely disgusted with her yet. “And—and I felt better for a few days?” she began to ramble. “But it’s like the pressure built up again. So I was just wondering if you’d mind—if you could do it again, maybe?”

Realization finally seemed to dawn on Josie, then. Her eyes softened when it occurred to her how much courage Hope needed to ask this of her. “Hope, of course I can,” she said softly, squeezing Hope’s hand. “If it’ll help you feel better.”

* * *

Josie was trying very hard to keep her composure.

Siphoning magic from full-tribrid Hope was a trip. If Josie had thought that it was borderline euphoric before, it was overwhelming now that she wasn’t even doing a spell with it. 

The magic was just pooling in her, swirling in her chest and sending electric shocks... further down.

Josie was trying very hard to prevent her body from reacting, but it wasn’t a very effective effort.

It didn’t help that they were sitting inches away from each other in a dark, candlelit room. It didn’t help that Hope had her eyes shut tight, taking deep, labored breaths like she was meditating.

“Harder,” Hope requested, her voice just above a whisper.

Josie swallowed thickly at the request, unable to stop herself from imagining Hope saying that in another context. She cleared her throat. “Are you sure?”

Hope nodded. “Yes,” she replied immediately. “Don’t hold back, I can take it.”

Josie blushed heavily, Hope's words affecting her far more than she’d like them to.

Hope’s eyes snapped open, her heart jolting with panic when she heard the intensity behind her own words. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like—” she blushed, cutting herself off and biting her lip. “Sorry.”

Josie shook her head. “No, it’s fine,” she reassured her. “You-you’ll tell me to stop, right? If it’s too much?”

Hope nodded. “Yes.”

Josie cleared her throat and resumed siphoning, drawing a bit harder.

Hope moaned softly. “That’s it, Jo,” she breathed. “Just like that.”

Hope’s magic swirled in her, electrified and intoxicating. Josie’s own breathing grew labored. “Wow,” she exhaled.

“What?” Hope asked absentmindedly without opening her eyes.

Josie blushed. “No, nothing, it’s just—you have a lot of power,” she muttered in reply, unable to describe it.

Hope frowned. “Is it bad?” she asked, her concern overruling her sudden, acute tiredness. “We can stop.”

Josie shook her head. “It’s not bad,” she replied quickly. “Not at all. It’s just—just— _feeling_ it—it’s different.”

Hope’s breathing was labored, as if she were moments from falling asleep. “Good different?” she murmured quietly.

Josie swallowed thickly. “Yeah,” she whispered. The magic suddenly took her off guard the moment the word left her mouth, sending powerful waves of heat surging down her spine. She tensed. “ _Fuck_ ,” she breathed.

Luckily, Hope didn’t seem to notice Josie’s little slip up. Her eyes were closed, her expression completely relaxed. She seemed not to be very aware of her surroundings, which allowed Josie to take a few moments to get a hold of herself.

Feeling power drunk and more uncomfortably aroused by the second, Josie opted to deflect. “I-is it good for you?” she squeaked, opening her eyes and fighting off a heavy blush.

“ _God_ , it’s perfect,” Hope whispered, her voice husky and appreciative. “Just what I needed.”

The words sent a sharp thrill down Josie’s spine. She abruptly dropped Hope’s hands, now certain that the way she was feeling wasn’t appropriate. “Hope,” she breathed a warning. 

Hope’s eyes fluttered open, dazed and confused. “Wha—why’d you stop?” she asked, sounding lazily defiant, like something she wanted had been taken from her but she was feeling too tired to argue about it. “You okay?”

Josie clenched her eyes shut, trying to get herself under control. “Yes, yeah, I just—” she cleared her throat to cut herself off, shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah, just give me a minute.”

Hope pouted but calmed down, her concern melting away. Her eyes grew heavy-lidded but she fought to keep them open. “Did it hurt?” she asked, sounding like she was about to fall asleep.

Josie shook her head, her eyes opening but staying trained on her lap. “No,” she replied, her blush intensifying when she thought about just how much it had _not_ hurt. “It was just… it was a lot.”

Hope could only grunt in response.

Josie finally looked up at her, her eyes widening when she saw Hope swaying slightly with her eyes closed. “Wait, are _you_ okay?” she squeaked, rising to her knees in alarm.

“Mhm,” Hope hummed absentmindedly.

Josie frowned, not buying it. “You look… tired,” she observed, concerned. “Did I take too much?”

“Mhm,” Hope automatically replied. Her eyes opened, confused when she registered her own answer. Her eyes were practically glazed over. “Wait, I mean, no—maybe.”

Josie’s eyes widened. “Hope, you look like you’re about to pass out,” she said, scooting closer across the floor.

“M’fine,” Hope muttered a bit childishly, waving her hand as if she were swatting away Josie’s concern. She swayed slightly again, almost falling over. She started to lean backward. “I just need to lie down.”

“Shit,” Josie yelped, panicked. She leaned forward, catching Hope and holding her upright before she could collapse on the floor. “Shit, Hope, I didn’t mean to take so much! I thought you said you’d stop me if I took too much?”

Hope blinked, her eyes still incredibly dazed. “I did,” she murmured. She blinked again. “I mean, I was gonna, I just… it felt really good.”

“Oh,” Josie replied dumbly. She rose to her knees and managed to turn Hope and get her to shift back enough to lean against the end of the bed. “Well, we need to… to fix it, we need to get your power back.”

Hope leaned her head back against the bedpost, closing her eyes. “M’kay,” she breathed.

Josie felt her panic amplify. “How do we get it back?” she asked desperately.

“M’be’lood,” Hope muttered incomprehensibly.

“Um,” Josie grunted. “What?”

“Blood,” Hope repeated.

Josie’s eyes widened. “Oh,” she replied, slightly taken off guard like she’d forgotten for a moment that Hope was a vampire. “Right.” 

Josie only hesitated for a moment before she straightened, scooting slightly closer and sweeping her hair to one side of her neck.

Hope’s eyes snapped open, slightly more lucid than before. “Josie,” she said sharply, a warning. “What’re you doing?”

Josie shrugged. “Giving you blood,” she said simply, as if it were no big deal.

Hope’s eyes darted down to fixate on Josie’s neck. “Josie…,” she trailed off, sounding pained.

Josie leaned even closer, brushing a lock of hair behind Hope’s ear with a reassuring smile. “Sh, it’s okay,” she murmured softly. “I messed up, let me fix it.”

Hope gulped, looking back into Josie’s eyes with a concentrated effort. “I don’t wanna hurt you,” she whispered.

Josie frowned. “You won’t,” she said simply. “You can control yourself, right?”

Hope didn’t move a muscle, looking like she was fighting with herself. “Yeah,” she replied slowly.

Josie leaned closer, hovering over Hope with her legs folded under her, tilting her head to offer her neck. “Then go ahead.” 

Hope hesitated. She stared up at Josie for a moment, uncertain. 

Then, her gaze drifted down to fixate on Josie’s neck. Hope’s dazed look faded entirely, replaced by one of intense fixation. Her lips parted as she focused entirely on the dull thud of Josie’s heartbeat and the point on her neck where Hope could see the blood pumping through her veins.

Hope’s eyes flashed gold. Black veins danced dangerously around them.

Josie watched her carefully, fascinated. Before she could stop herself she reached out, her thumb trailing gently across Hope’s cheekbone.

After a pause, Hope leaned in and bit down carefully—almost gently. Josie gasped at the pain when Hope’s fangs broke the skin, but it wasn’t nearly as painful as she'd expected it to be.

Hope tensed when the first pump of blood flooded her mouth.

It was thrumming with magic—Hope’s magic—and something _else_.

It triggered something in Hope. All of her hesitation disappeared in an instant. She reached out, grabbing Josie by the hips and easily pulling her into her lap.

Josie yelped at the sudden shift. Hope let out an appreciative hum against Josie’s neck, her thumbs rubbing lazy circles against Josie’s hip bones.

Josie’s breathing sped up, her face flushing. “H-Hope,” she whimpered.

Hope wrapped her arms around Josie’s waist and pulled her in closer, releasing a sharp, satisfied sigh through her nose while her mouth was otherwise occupied.

Josie marveled at the fact that it felt more like Hope trying to give her a bad hickey than anything else. She’d never imagined that being fed on could feel good after the initial pain, but now it seemed glaringly obvious.

It wasn't helping Josie calm down at all.

Hope eventually pulled back, but not very far. Her eyes fluttered open, still an intense gold, and honed in on Josie’s neck.

Two thin lines of blood were dripping from the neat fang marks Hope had left behind. Without hesitation, Hope leaned back in and cleaned them up with her tongue.

Josie whimpered, squirming in Hope’s lap in response.

Hope didn’t pull back, peppering Josie’s throat with kisses to show her appreciation, careful to avoid putting too much pressure on the puncture marks.

Josie was almost entirely certain that she was about to lose her mind. 

When she felt like she couldn’t take it anymore, she weaved a hand through Hope’s hair and tugged her back a few inches.

Josie stared down at Hope, her eyes dark and intense. The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife, but neither of them seemed inclined to shy away from it. In fact, they both seemed to be leaning in closer.

Just as Josie was almost entirely certain that they were about to kiss, a ringtone interrupted them.

Josie practically launched out of Hope’s lap, the noise sounding as harsh as a fire alarm after such a long and intense silence. It took a moment before she was able to scramble to her feet and grab her phone off the bed.

Josie stared down at it, feeling extremely flustered. “It’s—um… it’s my Dad,” she stuttered, her voice thick and rough. She looked back at Hope and cleared her throat. “I should…,” she trailed off, awkwardly gesturing to the phone. “In case it’s important.”

Hope nodded silently, clearly just as affected as Josie, but otherwise unreadable.

Josie gulped, her heart pounding in her chest and her cheeks feeling like they were on fire.

She used the phone call as an excuse to hide her blush, turning her back on Hope and bringing the phone up to her ear. “I—um... yeah?” she said awkwardly, her voice a bit high-pitched and squeaky.

Josie paused for a moment, listening to whatever was being said on the other end of the line. "No—yeah, I'm fine!" she blurted out, flinching immediately at how _not_ fine she sounded. She cleared her throat and tried to calm down. "Everything's fine."

There was a long pause as Josie listened to whatever Alaric was saying. She awkwardly folded an arm across her stomach, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. Then she swallowed, turning slightly to glance at Hope. “Okay," she said into the phone. "Yeah, she’s with me. We... we’ll be right down.”

Josie abruptly hung up the phone. Hope looked at her expectantly.

“He needs us to come down to his office,” Josie explained quietly, rubbing at the back of her neck.

Hope hesitated for a moment before she rose to her feet. “Okay,” she replied.

Hope brought her wrist to her mouth and bit down. Josie flinched and her eyes widened, not expecting that at all.

Hope held out her hand, offering it to Josie. “Here,” she said simply. “You need to heal.”

Josie blinked. “Oh. Right,” she replied, her eyes wide and panicky like she was considering making a run for it. She stepped closer after a moment of hesitation, tentatively reaching out and guiding Hope’s wrist to her mouth.

Hope stepped closer, resting her free hand on the small of Josie’s back. “Thank you, Jo,” she murmured into Josie’s ear as she drank.

Josie practically choked from how close Hope had gotten all of a sudden, abruptly jerking away and wiping her mouth. 

Hope frowned, stepping back to give her some space. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

“Y-yeah, of course, anytime,” Josie squeaked in reply, shyly brushing a lock of hair behind her ear and bowing her head to hide her furious blush. She stepped away, gracelessly gathering random objects and shoving them into her backpack just as an excuse to look away. “We should... let's go.”

Hope's brow furrowed with confusion, and she watched carefully as Josie practically sprinted out the door without looking back to see if Hope would follow.


	2. Chapter 2

Josie had been hoping that siphoning from Hope for a second time would sate her curiosity. 

Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect. It sent Josie’s curiosity off the rails. She could no longer go an hour without thinking about it.

Why was it so _different_ , she wondered? Why did it feel so _good?_

Nothing she’d ever siphoned from even compared. 

And, certainly, nothing else she’d ever siphoned from _turned her on_.

Josie was 99% sure that it wasn’t normal.

Of course, there was nearly no way to find out if it was normal. It's not like she could tell anyone about it—absolutely not. 

Talking about it with Hope was out of the question. Josie visibly cringed just imagining how that conversation would go down— _“Hey, Hope, siphoning from you on Wednesday made me feel a little bit horny, I was wondering if you’ve ever heard of anything like that?”_

Absolutely. Not.

Usually, if Josie was stumped on a supernatural-related-research-question, she’d just ask her dad about it.

But that was even further out of the question. Talking to her father about it was guaranteed to be just as mortifying as talking to Hope about it, if not more so.

And Josie could hardly interrupt Lizzie’s “normal college experience” to ask _her_ about it. Even if Lizzie might have some siphoning-related insights, she would definitely freak out. 

Lizzie’s input would be more stressful than helpful.

So, Josie just kept it to herself. 

If anyone was going to generate answers for Josie it would have to be herself, so she decided to barricade herself in the library.

On a Saturday.

She’d been in there for hours with very little to show for it. The research would probably be more effective if she could only stop daydreaming.

About Hope.

Josie was trying to focus on the textbook—she was really, truly trying. But she found herself reading the same sentence over and over again. 

She was simply too distracted.

She couldn’t stop imagining what might’ve happened if her phone had never rung—if their lips had touched—if Hope had slipped a hand under Josie’s skirt and made Josie hers (because, _God_ , Josie wanted nothing more than to give all of herself to Hope Mikaelson)—

Hope slid into the chair across from Josie so abruptly that it was almost as if she’d materialized out of thin air. “Hey.”

“Hope!” Josie yelped, very nearly falling right out of her chair. 

For a moment, Josie was genuinely scared that Hope might be able to read her mind. She tried not to look too much like someone who had just been caught doing something that was forbidden.

As Josie barely refrained from cringing at herself, Hope simply frowned. She seemed too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice Josie’s panic. “I’m stressed,” she stated, matter-of-fact. 

Josie blinked. “Oh,” she replied, trying to force her blush to disappear by sheer force of will. “Um, why?”

Hope sighed miserably, slouching on the table with her head leaning against her hand. “That’s the thing,” she answered, frustrated. “I don’t even know.” 

Josie reflexively nodded, despite her confusion. 

She honestly wasn’t sure why Hope was telling her this. Had their friendship reached that level now, finally, where they could _casually_ talk about how their days were going—about how they were feeling? It seemed like a milestone somehow, considering the fact that Hope was usually so emotionally closed off (at least in public).

Then again, Josie realized, the experience they’d shared earlier in the week was certainly… 

Intimate. 

Maybe more things had shifted in their relationship than Josie realized.

(Their _friendship_ , Josie reminded herself. Their platonic friendship.)

Unlike Josie, Hope didn’t appear to be having an existential crisis about it. In fact, she didn’t seem conflicted or unsure of herself at all. She just looked a little stressed, as she said she was.

“I just feel like I’m gonna explode,” Hope complained.

Josie pouted, the statement pulling her out of her thoughts. She observed the little frown on Hope’s face, and the fact that Hope was now staring sadly down at the table. “Did something happen that made you feel that way?” she asked, resolving to find out whatever was bothering Hope and fix it.

Hope contemplatively pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on the table without looking up. “I don’t think so,” she mused, preoccupied with her attempt to remember. “I mean, some girl cut in front of me at lunch. And they were out of mashed potatoes.”

Josie stared blankly. After a moment, she couldn’t help but break out into a fond smile, her eyes crinkling at the edges as much as she tried to fight it. “Right,” she replied, trying and failing to hide her amusement. 

Hope blinked and looked up at Josie, surprised. She seemed to connect the dots when Josie giggled, smiling sheepishly in response even as her cheeks were dusted a light pink. “Look,” she began with a playful glare. “I know it’s a little… disproportionate.”

That prompted Josie to giggle even harder. “Maybe just a little,” she teased, enjoying herself too much.

Hope was a good sport despite the fact that she’d just claimed that she was ready to explode. She couldn’t help it, really—seeing Josie genuinely smile was worth being teased, in her opinion. She let Josie continue to giggle, smiling back at her.

Josie eventually quieted down, forcing her smile under control.

Hope grew serious very gradually, her smile fading into a more pensive look. “Jo, I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she admitted quietly.

Josie instantly frowned, giving Hope her undivided attention. “Nothing’s _wrong_ with you, Hope,” she said quietly, reaching out to hold Hope’s hand where it was laying on the table. 

Hope remained silent, staring intently down at their hands.

Josie sighed, squeezing Hope’s hand to reassure her. “You’re the first of your kind,” she insisted. “There’s nothing _wrong_ with you—however you feel is the blueprint for normal.”

Hope scoffed out a light, self-deprecating laugh. “ _Normal_ ,” she echoed sarcastically in response. She bit her lip, shifting in her seat before she made intense eye contact. “How I’m feeling right now—how I’ve been feeling—it doesn’t feel _normal_ , Jo. It feels like nature doesn’t want me to exist.”

The comment made Josie visibly deflate. 

Hope had to look away from the heartbroken look on Josie’s face, instantly regretting saying a word about it.

They remained silent for a long pause. Then, Josie spoke again, her voice hushed. “Is it maybe...,” she trailed off and bit her lip. She glanced around, double checking to make sure that no one was paying attention to them. “You know, too much magic? Making you feel on edge?”

Hope studied Josie carefully for a long moment, her expression guarded and unreadable. She sighed. “Yeah. I think. I dunno,” she mumbled under her breath. She glanced around the room herself, as if they were now discussing something private. “I guess I was just hoping that what we did on Wednesday would last longer.”

Josie’s cheeks automatically flushed at the reminder, but she tried very hard to ignore it. Hope needed her to problem-solve, after all—not to drift off into yet another inappropriate daydream. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, automatically acting on her instinct to be of service without thinking twice.

For a long moment, Hope didn’t even move. She just stared at Josie intensely, her eyes swarming with conflict.

Josie felt the mood of the conversation change—she felt the air become charged and thick with tension. Her breath hitched in anticipation.

Then, Hope suddenly leaned in closer as if she were about to tell Josie a secret. “Well, you could… could you maybe…,” she trailed off, tripping over her words and shifting in her seat like she was embarrassed about what she was saying. 

Hope fell silent and swallowed thickly, her gaze faltering like she was tempted to say _never mind_ and run away.

Then, Hope seemed to brace herself. She gave Josie’s hand a squeeze, sending Josie a meaningful look before her eyes drifted down to look at their hands. “You know,” she mumbled awkwardly, looking back up at Josie through her eyelashes. “Would you mind…?”

Josie’s eyes widened almost comically when she realized what Hope was asking for. Her eyes drifted down to stare at their hands, as if to confirm it. Then, her cheeks flushed with panic and her eyes darted around the room. “What?” she squeaked gracelessly when she accidentally made eye contact with the librarian. “Now?”

Hope tensed, her cheeks going pale. She released Josie’s hand instantly, leaning back in her seat. “Oh,” she muttered, sounding very small and almost heartbroken. She stared down at her lap. “I mean, listen, Jo, if you don’t want to, it’s—”

“Wait, no!” Josie blurted out a bit frantically, the energy behind her words attracting a few eyes from some nearby students. She blushed at the attention, falling silent until she felt them look away again. When she spoke up again, her voice was quieter and calmer. “I want to.”

Hope swallowed. “Are you sure?” she asked, uncertain. “Because—”

“Hope, I _want_ to,” Josie whispered, giving Hope a lingering, meaningful look to try to convey her certainty. She glanced around the library again. “I just… I mean, don’t you think we should maybe do this somewhere more… private?”

Hope’s lips parted in shock. “Oh. Well, yeah,” she replied, as though it were obvious. “I didn’t mean that we should do it here.”

Josie blinked. “Oh,” she replied, feeling dumb.

Hope bit her lip. “But, I mean...,” she started with a shrug, trying and failing to feign nonchalance. “If you want to, we can do it somewhere else.”

Josie blinked again. “Oh,” she said, lacking inflection. “Okay.”

Hope stared at Josie, as if she were looking for some signal that Josie might not really mean it. “Yeah?”

Josie tried not to show how eager she felt. “Yeah,” she affirmed.

“Now?” Hope asked, looking like she was fighting not to seem too eager herself.

Josie nodded. “Now,” she echoed.

Just like that, it was as if a switch had been flipped in Hope. Her eyes darkened so obviously that Josie felt a chill roll down her spine.

Hope stood up from the table with a determined look on her face, not unlike she was about to charge into battle. “Well, come on, then,” she said, stepping around the table and holding out her hand to offer it to Josie.

Josie only hesitated for a moment before taking Hope’s hand, murmuring a quick spell to send her book flying back onto the shelf.

Soon enough, Josie found herself being dragged down the hallway. Then, Hope veered down another hallway that people rarely utilized. She swiftly pulled Josie into a broom closet.

Hope turned back to close the door and lock it behind them. “Private enough?” she asked over her shoulder.

Josie glanced around at the supplies—at the shelves that held a wild assortment of paint cans, the mop and its bucket in the corner. She looked back at Hope, who was now staring at her expectantly, illuminated only by the light leaking through the cracks in the door. 

“Hope, this is a closet,” Josie stated, deadpan.

The corner of Hope’s lip quirked up into a little smirk. She seemed distracted, even as she replied, like she was more focused on what was about to happen than she was focused on the conversation. “I know,” she said with a shrug. “I just figured that no one would come in here.”

Josie scoffed out a little disbelieving laugh, amused. “What, are you too impatient to walk back to my room?” she teased, raising an eyebrow.

Josie’s teasing did not exactly get the intended effect. Instead of teasing back or shying away, Hope just stared intensely and stepped right into Josie’s personal space. “I’m not a very patient person, Josie,” she murmured quietly, reaching out to pull Josie’s hands into her own. 

Josie froze at their sudden proximity, her heart picking up speed (which Hope could obviously hear, judging by the way she briefly glanced down at Josie’s chest). 

Josie cleared her throat. She was honestly taken off guard by how forward and direct Hope was acting, having expected that they'd awkwardly beat around the bush for at least a couple minutes.

“Hope, you have to tell me if it gets too intense this time,” Josie said, sending Hope a stern, lightly scolding look. “I don’t want you almost passing out on me again. Don’t let me go overboard.”

Hope chuckled, not nearly as concerned about it as Josie was. “Okay,” she said.

Josie frowned, unsatisfied. “Promise me,” she commanded.

Hope rolled her eyes. “ _Okay,”_ she said, forcing herself to be more serious. “I promise.”

Josie studied her for a long moment before she was satisfied. “Okay,” she whispered.

It fell silent for a long moment, during which neither of them made a move.

Hope raised an eyebrow, glancing meaningfully at their already-entwined hands. “What are you waiting for?” she asked playfully, stepping even closer even though it wasn’t at all necessary. “Siphon me.”

Josie’s heart practically seized in her chest at the teasing. She tried to cover it up with a roll of her eyes, but her chest filled with warmth at the fact that Hope appeared to be just as eager as she herself felt. “Bossy,” she mumbled.

Josie obeyed, regardless, unable to take the anticipation for any longer. She closed her eyes and began to siphon.

Immediately, Hope let out a sharp sigh, her eyes sliding shut.

Josie felt Hope’s power coursing up her arms. It began to pool in her chest, hot and substantial. She almost swore—it felt even better than she remembered it. She sucked in a harsh breath. “How’s that?” she gasped quietly, just to distract herself.

Hope didn’t even open her eyes. She stumbled a step closer, to the point where they were practically pressed right up against each other. “So good,” she mumbled mindlessly. 

They were standing so close that Josie could feel Hope’s body heat, and that was making it even harder for her to maintain control. She tried to focus on her breathing instead of the fire raging below her ribcage, but the effort didn’t seem to be very effective.

Once again, Josie spoke just to distract herself. “Do you need it harder?” she asked, her voice overwhelmingly soft and gentle—almost loving, even.

Hope’s breathing was becoming heavier by the second. “Maybe just a little,” she whispered slowly, sounding breathless.

Josie focused very intently. She pulled on Hope’s magic harder—just a little bit harder, atom by atom.

It wasn’t like their first session, where Josie had abruptly amped up the strength of her siphoning. She was far more careful with it, but almost experimental at the same time. The increase was gradual—meditatively so.

Hope was just as focused on it as Josie, even though she had no control. Her eyes squeezed shut and her brow furrowed, her lips slightly parting. Josie opened her eyes to peek when Hope's breathing became slightly irregular, but she instantly regretted it—the look on Hope’s face did absolutely nothing to calm Josie down.

After a while of this gradually increasing pull, just as Josie was beginning to feel like she was being tortured, Hope’s breath suddenly hitched sharply in her throat. “Wait, wait,” she breathed, her voice sounding a bit strained. “Right there.”

Josie gulped and squirmed a little, but she obeyed without hesitation, holding her rate steady. 

It seemed to be some kind of sweet spot for Hope. She swayed closer and rested her forehead on Josie’s shoulder, breathing heavily.

Josie hummed and took a few steps backward, pulling Hope along with her. She pressed her back against the wall and tugged Hope closer, allowing the tribrid to fold into her completely. Hope rested her weight against Josie with the support of the wall.

Josie allowed a soft moan to escape her throat, overwhelmed by the feeling of being so close to Hope and siphoning her unique brand of power.

She found it even more difficult to stop herself from getting carried away. She tried to force herself to focus only on the little steady puffs of Hope’s breath against her collarbone.

Suddenly, Josie had the fleeting thought that she had absolutely no idea how much energy Hope had left. For all she knew, it could be practically depleted. Hope let out a soft, nearly imperceptible whine, which prompted Josie to remind Hope of her promise to tell Josie when to stop.

Josie cleared her throat. “Is that too much?” she murmured right into Hope’s ear, her voice rough. “Should I stop?”

Hope flinched slightly, like she was startled by Josie’s voice. It took a moment for her to react, as if she were snapping out of a trance and struggling to process the question.

When Josie's words finally registered, Hope vehemently shook her head. “No, wait, no,” she blurted out. “Don’t stop.”

Josie swallowed thickly. “You sure?” she murmured, uncertain.

Hope whimpered, pressing her body closer to Josie’s and burying her face in Josie’s neck. “Please don’t stop,” she practically begged. “Please.”

Josie struggled to ignore the jolt of electricity _that_ reaction sent down her spine, clearing her throat again. “Okay, okay, sh,” she cooed softly. She instinctively kissed Hope’s temple, her high making her forget about any lines in their friendship that they hadn’t yet crossed. “I’m right here, sweetie. I won’t stop.”

Hope nearly collapsed against her with a grateful sigh. Josie supported her and held her up, wrapping a hand around Hope’s waist to stroke the small of her back even as the other continued to siphon.

Hope held her hand in a vice grip. True to her word, Josie didn’t stop. 

She didn’t even consider stopping until a couple minutes later, when Hope became very still and Josie felt like she couldn’t take one more second without exploding. “I-I’m gonna slow down n-now,” she sputtered. “Is that okay?”

Hope only hummed her acknowledgement. 

Josie slowed down gradually to ease them both out of it. 

Even when Josie stopped siphoning, Hope didn’t step away. She just remained slumped against Josie, her breathing heavy and even like she was about to fall asleep.

“How do you feel?” Josie asked quietly after a long moment of silence, still stroking the small of Hope’s back.

Hope sucked in a deep, shaky breath. “Perfect,” she breathed on the exhale. She tilted her head and pressed soft, barely-there kisses against Josie’s pulse point. “God, you’re so perfect.”

Josie’s breath hitched. She shifted a little on her feet, the throbbing between her thighs finally reaching a point where it was borderline painful.

Hope wasn't making it easier on Josie at all. She kept kissing Josie's neck, but it remained light since she was clearly exhausted. 

A thought occurred to Josie, and she was speaking before she could fully process it. “D-do you want to feed?” she asked quietly, her voice tight and strained.

Hope stilled, her body tensing like she was just now realizing what she'd been doing. She pulled back slightly. “Are you offering?” she muttered, surprised. 

Josie nodded a little bit too enthusiastically.

Hope leaned further back to look up at her. Her eyes were a bit glazed over and distant, Josie noted. “You’re sure?” she asked.

Josie didn't hesitate—she reached behind her neck to tuck a few stray hairs neatly to one side of her neck. “Mhm,” she hummed.

It took a moment—Hope seemed to be operating on a slight delay, like a slow computer—but Hope smiled, her eyes lighting up even though they were still a bit dazed and out-of-it. She leaned back in, planting another lingering kiss just below Josie's ear.

“Y’know, we probably shouldn’t make a habit of this, Jo,” Hope murmured, her breath fanning over Josie's neck and making her shiver. “Your dad will stake me if he finds out.”

Josie released a shaky breath, tilting her head to give Hope more access to her throat. “I won’t tell him if you don’t,” she said simply, trying to keep her voice steady.

Hope smiled against her neck, and then she bit down just as gently as last time. Josie flinched, but the pain faded quickly.

Hope folded in closer to her, slotting a thigh between Josie’s legs like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Josie gasped, her eyes clenching shut. The sensations were a bit too much for her—Hope’s power still coursing through her veins, Hope’s mouth on her throat, the pressure between her legs. She slumped helplessly back against the wall, but Hope held her up by pressing into her a little harder.

Just like that, Josie's inhibitions faded away. She forgot why she'd been trying so hard to keep herself under control. She didn't even bother trying to hold back the desperate whimper that escaped her throat.

A low rumble came from Hope's chest—a growl, Josie realized, just before Hope pinned Josie's wrists to the wall and her mind went blank again.

Hope was a predator, Josie suddenly realized. Josie was her willing (and eager) prey.

Josie's breathing grew rapid and unsteady. It surprised her, how much the thought excited her.

If Hope noticed the way Josie started to mindlessly grind against her thigh, she didn’t say a word about it. 

Suddenly, a loud _pop_ came from the other side of the closet, and then another _pop_ , and then a _crash_.

Hope instantly jerked back and spun around, startled.

Only a split second after Hope moved, Josie flinched when something cold and wet splattered across her face.

She opened her eyes, disoriented and confused. She looked down at her clothes just to find out that she was now covered in red and blue paint. She glanced up to find that Hope was in a similar condition, aiming a confused frown down at the paint on her sweater.

Josie's heart dropped. 

Mortified. There was no other word for it. That was how she felt.

It was one thing for Josie to be whimpering like she was in a porno—she could almost forgive herself for that one. At least the sound was here one second and gone the next; at least Hope seemed so focused on feeding that she'd hardly even noticed. 

But accidentally blowing up paint cans just because she was turned on? That was on another level entirely.

Hope could hardly just ignore it. Josie could see it when the realization dawned in her eyes—the moment when Hope connected the dots, staring at Josie's paint-splattered clothes in shock.

Josie blushed so hard that she worried she might go into hypovolemic shock.

Oh no. She’d just ruined one of Hope’s five rotatable outfits.

“Hope, I-I am _so_ sorry,” Josie blurted out, pushing herself away from the wall and staring at Hope's ruined sweater in horror.

Without hesitating, Hope rushed to reassure Josie. “No, no, it's okay,” she insisted, her voice suspiciously husky. She cleared her throat with a blush. “It’s not your fault.”

Josie blinked, glancing around the closet, wondering in what universe this was _not her fault_.

Hope appeared to still be struggling to process everything that had just happened, her expression somewhere between stunned and impressed.

Josie was one step ahead of her, already at the stage where she was feeling panicked and desperate to escape. “I—um, I should go,” she sputtered out gracelessly, unable to bear the embarrassment. She licked her lips and chose to ignore the way Hope’s eyes reflexively darted down to stare at them. “I mean, I shouldn't—I h-have to go.”

Hope’s face fell, as though Josie had just casually tossed her ice cream in the lake. “Really?” she asked, openly disappointed. She caught herself, though, quickly stepping back and clearing her throat, fixing her expression into a (relatively) more neutral one. “Oh, I mean, yeah. Okay. That’s fine.”

Josie only hesitated for a second before she slipped past Hope and out into the hall, speed-walking back to her room.

Josie felt like she was doing a walk of shame. She avoided eye contact with the curious students she passed by in the hall. They all stared at her, most definitely wondering why she was covered in paint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally don't know how to tag this fic
> 
> Anyway, someone suggested I should add some analysis to my author's notes, so here:
> 
> I like how the differences in their personalities are shining through in this one. Hope's more in-the-moment and able to shed her inhibitions with Josie; Josie's ruminating & overthinking.
> 
> Josie's hyperfocused on not losing control/crossing a line, but Hope isn't concerned about that at all. It doesn't even occur to Hope, because her personality is more sensory-based than Josie's. 
> 
> The conflict Hope's having is more about opening up about what she needs and asking for help (i.e., her insecurities are feeling-based). Josie's worried, obsessing about the abstract meaning of what they're doing—what it means in terms of their relationship (intuition-based).
> 
> (idk if anyone cares about this or if I'm just talking to myself, lemme know in the comments)


	3. Chapter 3

Josie successfully avoided Hope for two days.

If it were up to Josie, she very well might’ve ended up avoiding Hope indefinitely. 

It’s not that she never wanted to see Hope again. She just didn’t want to see Hope until she could figure out how to explain the whole paint situation. 

And she couldn’t figure out how to explain the whole paint situation.

It was a complicated thing to explain. She didn’t feel comfortable admitting the truth about it, but she couldn’t even begin to think of a lie.

So, she just avoided the conversation altogether. Every time Josie caught sight of Hope, it triggered her fight-or-flight response. She simply reacted and ran in the opposite direction. It was hardly a conscious decision. 

Of course, the school wasn’t big enough for Josie to keep running forever.

Especially considering the fact that Hope and Josie were both essential members of the monster-fighting task force. 

Josie found herself called down to Alaric’s office at the end of the day on Tuesday.

She had a bad feeling that Hope would be there, too.

But she hardly had a choice. It’s not like she could ignore her father’s summons altogether. It could be an emergency, after all.

Josie adjusted her scarf before she opened the door. The last thing she needed was for her father to see the not-fully-healed puncture marks that weren’t supposed to be on her neck. 

Nothing good would come of that.

Josie had run out of the closet too abruptly for Hope to heal her. So, she wound up having to hide the evidence.

The light ache on her neck was a constant reminder of the awkward situation she’d gotten herself into. Not only was she breaking all of her father’s rules by letting Hope feed on her directly—she also enjoyed it. 

She enjoyed having Hope’s mouth on her throat. She liked how it felt to give Hope control. There was something very intimate about the exchange of trust.

Josie liked witnessing this new part of Hope in a way that no one else ever had. 

She liked how it felt to have Hope pressed up against her, teetering just on the edge of getting carried away. She liked the way Hope got a little pushy—the way she could feel it when Hope put in a concentrated effort to rein herself in and remind herself to be gentle.

She liked it too much.

Hope obviously liked it, too, but Josie highly doubted that it was for the same reasons.

Hope was just feeding. She liked it, but in the same way that people get carried away when they’re eating a good steak or something, Josie figured. Nothing more.

Hope certainly wasn’t turned on by it, Josie told herself—not in the same way that Josie was.

The arousal was mortifying enough, even without the physical evidence of exploding paint cans.

The incident made Josie want to lock herself in her room and never speak to anyone again.

Dodging everyone’s attention could only last for so long, though. The moment Josie swung open the door to her father’s office, every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at her.

Alaric’s, Jed’s, Kaleb’s.

And, more intense than anyone else’s, Hope’s.

Hope stared at Josie very obviously. Attempting to hide it didn’t even seem to occur to her. Her eyes drifted down to fixate on the scarf around Josie’s neck, and she frowned.

Josie promptly avoided eye contact with her, trying to focus on everyone else in the room instead. 

Kaleb followed Hope’s line of sight and stared back at Josie with a confused frown.

Josie blushed. 

God. Hope was being so _obvious_.

Josie would have to talk to her about it (whenever Josie could manage to talk to her again without panicking, that is). If Hope didn’t learn to be more subtle, everyone would suspect that something was going on between them soon enough.

(Not that anything was going on between them.)

Alaric stood from his desk. “Josie,” he breathed, relieved. “Good, you’re here.”

Josie gave him a tight smile, wishing in vain that she was anywhere else.

“I need a favor,” Alaric stated.

Josie frowned. Of course her father only called her here because he needed something. 

Alaric didn’t seem to notice her frown, continuing on without even looking at her. “There’s been news about some mysterious murders just over the state line,” he explained. “I need you four to go do recon.”

Josie gulped, sparing Hope a nervous glance out of the corner of her eye. “When?”

“I figured you could go down on Thursday and spend the weekend,” Alaric said noncommittally, sorting through a couple papers on his desk. 

Kaleb cleared his throat, maybe sensing the weird tension in the air. “Roadtrip,” he sang. 

“What about my students?” Josie asked, sort of desperate for an excuse not to be in a motel room with someone she’d been avoiding all weekend. 

Alaric frowned, probably having expected Josie to immediately agree without question. “Lizzie’s coming back for Thanksgiving break,” he reminded her, as though it should be obvious. “She said she doesn’t want to deal with any monster-related things, so she's going to cover for you.”

This response did very little to ease Josie’s anxiety. In fact, envisioning Lizzie leading her classroom made her look a bit panicked before she remembered to straighten out her expression. 

“Oh… um,” she started. She tried and failed to come up with an excuse. She gulped, bringing a hand up to rub the side of her neck. “Right. Okay.”

Josie realized her mistake a moment too late, when her father’s gaze drifted down to fixate on her neck. 

Josie reacted instantly, moving her scarf back into place to cover up whatever she might’ve accidentally allowed to come into his view. 

But she was too late. Alaric tensed, standing and stepping closer to her. “What’s on your neck?” he demanded. He reached out, as though he wanted to pull her scarf out of his view and get a closer look. “Did someone—”

Josie batted his hand away, taking a quick step backward and nearly knocking a book off of the shelf. “It’s just a hickey,” she blurted out, her voice awkwardly loud.

Alaric froze—everyone did, really. Jed’s jaw fell open; Kaleb raised his eyebrows but politely stared up at the ceiling, his mouth glued shut. 

Alaric sort of paled like he’d seen a ghost. “From who?” he blurted out reflexively.

Josie blushed, averting eye contact. As if she weren’t embarrassed enough. “I—um…,” she trailed off. 

Josie subtly glanced over at Hope, but Hope wasn’t even looking at her. Hope was beet red and tense, staring down at her shoes and looking like she wanted to jump back into Malivore. 

Josie looked back at Alaric. “Dad, can we please talk about this later?” she asked in an urgent whisper.

Alaric seemed to realize that he didn’t even want to know the answer to his own question. He cleared his throat awkwardly, avoiding meeting anyone’s eye. “Um, well... you’re all free to go,” he muttered, as though he wanted nothing more than to ignore the last bit of their conversation. “Hope, stay behind a minute.”

Josie didn’t wait around to find out why her Dad was asking Hope to stay behind. She just sent out a brief prayer that it had nothing to do with her _“hickey”_ and practically ran out the door. 

Josie tried her best to scurry back to her room and lock the door behind her before Hope could even step out into the hallway.

She almost made it, too. She was just a few steps from her door when she heard Hope call out from behind her. “Josie, wait!”

Josie almost tripped over her feet. Her eyes widened and she debated over pretending that she hadn’t heard anything at all.

But Hope made it impossible for Josie to ignore her. She was suddenly right next to Josie’s door, leaning against the wall.

Josie jumped, startled. Stupid vampire speed.

Hope was frowning. “You’re avoiding me,” she stated, matter-of-fact.

Josie’s lips parted and she blinked, taken aback by Hope’s bluntness. She shook her head dismissively, averting eye contact. “I’m not avoiding you,” she mumbled. She didn’t sound very sure of herself.

Hope’s raised eyebrow made it clear that she didn’t buy it, either. 

Josie fiddled with her keys, trying to get the door unlocked just so that she could look at something other than Hope.

Hope huffed out a frustrated sigh. “You _are_ ,” she insisted, daring Josie to deny it.

Josie gulped nervously, still avoiding eye contact. Her cheeks were flaming from the whole hickey incident, and Hope’s staring wasn’t doing much to ease her panic. 

Hope’s frustration ebbed a bit. She looked less confrontational and more desperate. “Josie, please,” she begged, the desperation coming through in her voice. “Talk to me.”

Josie stilled and remained quiet for a moment, glancing up and down the hall. Her chest flooded with guilt. “Fine,” she relented, resigned to her fate. “Let's talk inside.”

Josie managed to push the door open and ushered Hope inside, closing the door behind them.

Hope only took a couple steps inside the room before she spun around to give Josie her undivided attention.

Josie crossed her arms over her chest. She looked a bit skittish, like she might run if Hope made a sudden move. She didn’t seem to want Hope’s undivided attention, meeting it with a bit of defiance.

Hope just looked all kinds of stressed. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Josie frowned. Her gaze faltered. “Yeah,” she replied, not sure why Hope thought she might not be. “Are you?”

Hope shook her head, waving the question off like it was ridiculous. “That's not important,” she said distractedly. Hope took a careful step closer. “Look, Josie, I know you might not want to talk about it, but I just… I need you to know how sorry I am.”

Josie stared at Hope for a long moment, stunned. “What?” she echoed, in disbelief.

Hope forged ahead without pausing to acknowledge Josie’s question. “Our relationship means everything to me,” she began. “What can I do to fix this? Please.” 

Josie’s eyes widened. “Hope, stop,” she blurted out. She shook her head, confused. “I don’t understand why you’re apologizing to me.”

Hope frowned. "It's okay if you're upset, Jo," she began. "You have every right to be. Please be honest. I won’t be mad, I promise."

Josie scowled, frustrated. “I _am_ being honest,” she said. “I don't get why you're apologizing—you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Hope bit her lip. “Yeah?” she challenged. “Then why are you avoiding me?”

Josie tensed. She didn’t want to talk about _that_. “Because,” she answered vaguely. “Because. I’m just a little…,” she trailed off, glancing at the wall.

Hope looked hopeful, like she was just moments away from getting the information she wanted after waiting for too long. “A little what?” she prompted.

Josie's nostrils flared and she crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes grew guarded and her jaw ticked. _All in_ , she told herself, deciding to just the leap. “Embarrassed,” she snapped defensively. “I’m embarrassed, okay?”

Hope was taken aback, blinking in shock and staring at Josie for a moment, astounded. It reminded Josie of the way Hope looked at her when she found out that Josie was the pig. “What?” Hope blurted out. “Why?”

Josie opened and closed her mouth, hesitating. Her gaze faltered. “You know,” she mumbled.

Hope just stared blankly, looking very much like she did not know.

After a pause, Josie huffed out a frustrated sigh. “I blew up a paint can, Hope,” she blurted out, sending Hope a meaningful look. “Two of them.”

Hope’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Well, yes,” she replied slowly, taking another step closer. “But that wasn’t your fault—it was mine.”

Josie recoiled with a surprised scoff, not understanding that at all. She stared at Hope for a long, awkward silence, like Hope was about to say _sike_. When Hope failed to retract her statement, Josie's brow furrowed. “ _Your_ fault?” she echoed, in disbelief. “How?”

Hope hesitated, averting eye contact with a heavy blush. “I let myself get carried away,” she mumbled, shifting on her feet and wringing her hands nervously. “I was too rough with you.”

Josie couldn’t help it—she let out a disbelieving laugh.

Hope stared up at her like a kicked puppy. Suddenly, she looked like she was about to cry.

It was as if Josie’s face fell in slow motion, an odd mixture of shock and realization settling in her eyes. “Oh, my God,” she breathed, almost as if she was talking to herself. Her arms dropped to her sides. “You think you hurt me, don’t you?”

Hope gulped, staring at Josie warily. “I mean,” she said quietly. “Didn’t I?”

Josie’s eyes softened. “No!” she blurted out, stepping closer and taking Hope’s hands in her own. She shook her head almost violently, her expression radiating empathy. “No, sweetie, of course you didn’t.”

Hope frowned, like that made things even more confusing. “But...,” she started, sounding a bit pathetic. “I just figured...,” she trailed off.

“What?” Josie prompted, squeezing Hope’s hands to encourage her to open up.

Hope sighed. “Why did your magic react like that?” she asked quietly. "If you weren't trying to defend yourself?"

Josie froze. 

Suddenly, she felt the spotlight shining on her, so bright that it almost burned. 

She could still take it back, she told herself. Hope would still believe it, maybe, if Josie took everything back and claimed that Hope had hurt her.

Yes, Josie could spare herself the mortification. She could allow Hope to believe that the reason Josie blew up the paint wasn’t because Josie was painfully turned on and a little bit power drunk.

But Hope was still staring up at her like a wounded puppy.

Josie couldn’t lie, she realized. Her morals wouldn't let her. She had to come clean. There was no other option.

Josie took a deep, steadying breath. “That wasn’t me trying to defend myself,” she said slowly, already feeling her cheeks start to burn. 

Hope didn’t seem very convinced, pouting and looking at Josie warily.

Josie gulped, glancing away. “Listen. I’m the one who let myself get… carried away,” she admitted awkwardly, wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

Hope was silent for a moment, her brow furrowed with confusion. “What do you mean?” she asked dumbly.

Josie took a deep, labored breath, her cheeks burning even hotter. “Fuck,” she muttered to herself under her breath, trying and failing to figure out how to explain. 

“Hey, you can tell me,” Hope started, her expression filled with concern. “Whatever it is.”

Josie released a frustrated sigh, bristling under the attention. She braced herself. “I didn’t blow up the paint because I was scared,” she mumbled, staring at her feet. “I blew it up because I was… overwhelmed. By… by the way you were…,” _touching me._ “By the way I was feeling.”

Hope fell silent. Josie looked up at her nervously just to find Hope looking hesitant and confused. “Oh,” Hope said eventually. “Um… what do you mean? How did you feel?”

Josie bit her lip, averting eye contact. “Hope, _please_ ,” she mumbled pathetically, shifting on her feet and crossing her arms over her chest.

Hope cleared her throat, blinking. “I’m sorry, I just…,” she began, impatiently running a hand through her hair. “I don't understand. How did it feel? Tell me.”

Josie paused, shyly glancing at Hope. She braced herself. “Good,” she blurted out gracelessly. She cleared her throat, and when she spoke again her voice was just above a whisper. “I... it felt good.”

Hope stilled, staring at Josie, her gaze searching and uncertain. “It felt good?” she echoed.

Josie bit her lip. She stared down at her feet, subconsciously adjusting her scarf. 

Hope’s eyes honed in on it. They widened with realization. “Wait, really?” she asked, in slight disbelief. “When I fed? Shouldn’t that hurt?”

Josie gulped, unable to meet Hope's eye. _All in_ , she reminded herself. “It stings a little at first,” she admitted quietly, resisting the urge to rub at her neck. “But… it’s, uh… after that, it’s okay.”

Hope just stared at her blankly, apparently not sure how to react to this information. She looked like she wasn’t sure if she was interpreting it correctly. 

Josie finally met Hope's eye and let out a shaky sigh. “Um,” she whispered, clenching her eyes shut to cope with the embarrassment of what she was about to say. “It’s... more than okay.”

Hope’s lips parted, the meaning behind Josie’s words finally clicking for her, much to Josie’s dismay. “ _Oh_ ,” she breathed, a blush just as heavy as Josie’s rising to her cheeks. She shifted restlessly on her feet, rubbing at the back of her neck. “Oh... okay.” 

They fell into a bit of an awkward silence for a moment, both avoiding the other’s gaze and staring intently at the floor instead. 

Then, Hope seemed to get a hold of herself, clearing her throat and standing up straighter. “Well, you don’t have to be embarrassed, Josie,” she stated, her tone firm and reassuring. 

Josie nearly flinched at Hope’s voice, gnawing at her bottom lip and finding herself unable to look up. “I just…,” she mumbled. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Hope shook her head, chuckling a little bit like that was absurd. “I’m not uncomfortable,” she said, stepping closer and trailing her hands down Josie’s arms. “Trust me. However you feel is okay with me.”

Josie practically deflated, sighing in relief in response to the touch. “Oh,” she breathed, a weight lifted off of her chest. "Okay."

Hope gave Josie a soft smile. Josie relaxed, finding nothing but acceptance in Hope's eyes where she'd expected to see judgement.

Josie’s gaze drifted down and settled on the tension in Hope’s shoulders. “Hope, I am _so_ sorry,” she murmured, reaching out to splay her hands across Hope’s shoulders. “I didn’t even realize that you thought you hurt me. I wouldn’t have left.”

Josie experimentally squeezed Hope’s shoulders, trying to ease some of her tension. Hope reflexively huffed out a sigh, her eyes drooping closed in response. “I-it’s okay,” she sputtered.

Josie frowned, shaking her head. “It’s not,” she said quietly. “I feel like such an ass. I should’ve communicated better.”

Hope bit her lip, but she didn’t say anything. She seemed distracted all of a sudden, as if Josie’s touch made her forget how to think.

Josie just stared, conflict raging in her eyes like she was debating with herself about something. After a moment, she stepped even closer. “Why don’t you let me make it up to you?” she whispered.

The suggestion was fairly innocent, but Hope’s eyes darkened instantly. She glanced down—Josie’s step closer had brought their chests almost flush up against each other, and Hope was finding it much harder to breathe. “Josie, you don’t have to,” she insisted, her voice strained.

“I want to,” Josie replied instantly, Hope’s reaction heightening her confidence.

Hope just licked her lips.

Josie stepped even closer somehow, brushing her hands appraisingly over Hope’s shoulders. “You’re so tense,” she observed quietly. “Let me fix it.”

Hope swallowed thickly, her lips parting and her eyes growing hooded. She stared at Josie’s lips like she was in a trance. “How?”

Josie leaned closer, burying her fingers in the hair at the base of Hope’s neck. “You tell me,” she whispered softly into Hope’s ear. “What can I do for you?”

Hope blushed heavily, her breath hitching in her throat. Her hands trembled a little bit when she rested them on Josie's hips. "I—uh...," she muttered, her eyes sliding shut and her thoughts trailing off into nothing.

Josie smiled, finding Hope's inability to answer endearing. She chose to put Hope out of her misery. She pulled Hope even closer and slipped a hand under her shirt, pressing it against the small of her back.

Josie shuddered the moment she began to siphon, taken off guard by the sudden flood of power. Hope instantly slumped against her, a sharp sigh puffing against Josie's collarbone.

Josie sucked in a breath, trying to get a hold of herself (with difficulty). “How’s that?” she asked, her voice shaky. “Good?”

“ _Yes,_ ” Hope instantly replied, not even attempting to hide the huskiness of her voice.

Josie hummed. “Yeah?” she murmured.

Hope nodded. “I missed this,” she admitted. "I missed you."

Josie giggled breathlessly. “Hope, it’s only been a few days.”

“Too long,” Hope muttered absentmindedly.

Josie hesitated for a moment, taken off guard by an unexpected surge of power. She tried to force herself to ignore the smoldering heat pooling in her chest. “Yeah?” 

Hope whimpered softly and squirmed to get closer. “Yeah,” she practically moaned.

As if by instinct, Hope turned to try to bury her face in Josie’s neck. The effort was thwarted by Josie's scarf.

Hope pouted and pulled back ever-so-slightly, hesitating for only a moment before reaching up and pulling Josie’s scarf off. She frowned when she was faced with two clean puncture marks. “Does it still hurt?” she murmured, gently brushing her fingertips over them.

Josie took a long moment to register the question, her breath hitching when she was flooded with another surge of power. She forced her eyes to open. “No,” she gasped, distracted. “Um, I mean… only a little.”

Hope studied Josie carefully—the light blush on her cheeks; the glazed-over look in her eyes. She blinked. “This part feels good, too, doesn't it?” she asked, surprised. “Siphoning.”

Josie froze, her blush intensifying. The siphoning decreased in intensity as she lost her concentration. She gulped, averting eye contact and only managing to give Hope a shaky, reluctant nod in response.

Hope remained silent for a moment, the only sounds their unsteady breathing. Hope licked her lips, tilting her head curiously. “As good as it feels for me?” she asked.

Josie bit her lip, mustering up the courage to stare back at Hope. She cleared her throat. “How good does it feel for you, exactly?” she deflected.

Hope stared blankly for a moment before she smiled, apparently amused by the response. She leaned in and laid a gentle kiss right next to the mark she'd left behind on Josie's neck, causing Josie to gasp.

“If I tell you that,” Hope purred against Josie's skin. “It'll scare you away.”

Josie gulped. “No, it won’t,” she replied, completely certain.

Hope smirked, pulling back once again. "Oh, yeah?" she asked playfully, cocking her head to the side and raising a teasing eyebrow. "Then why'd you stop?"

Josie only stared for a long moment, her chest still rising and falling with heavy, unsteady breaths. 

Josie's gaze faltered, her blush intensifying. She felt shy—taken off guard by how _cocky_ Hope was acting all of a sudden.

It was unexpected.

And sexy.

But that can't have been how Hope intended it, Josie reminded herself.

This was still just an exchange of favors—a mutually beneficial arrangement. Hope was okay with the fact that it felt good for Josie because Hope was a good friend and Hope would never shame Josie for having a visceral reaction.

That's all.

Josie took a moment to collect herself before she resumed siphoning.

Hope reacted instantly with a pleased hum. 

Josie sighed, her eyes falling shut and her mind blanking once again. 

Josie almost stumbled, suddenly, off-balance. Hope was nudging her to step backward, she realized on a bit of a delay.

Josie automatically cooperated, allowing Hope to guide her. Before she knew it, Hope had her pinned against the door.

Josie squeaked with surprise when Hope suddenly began to kiss her neck. "H-Hope," she breathed, a little frantic.

Hope released a soft sigh, her thumb tracing over the mark on Josie's neck while her mouth thoroughly explored the other side.

Josie had the fleeting thought that she should probably warn Hope—that she should tell Hope how difficult it would be for Josie to keep a hold of herself, if they kept doing what they were doing.

But the thought was gone as quickly as it came, and then Josie found herself completely absorbed in the sensation. The feeling of Hope apparently trying to paint her neck with bruises; the power coursing through her veins, _building_ —

Josie pulled Hope closer, grabbing at her shoulders. “ _Hope_ ,” she gasped, her voice urgent.

Hope stilled, her lips parting from Josie's skin by less than a centimeter. “Hm?” she hummed.

Josie squirmed beneath her, overwhelmed, her chest heaving. “ _Bite me_ ,” she whimpered desperately. Then, as an afterthought, as though she’d realized a moment too late that the command might be rude—“Please.”

Hope didn’t need to be told twice. Her chest reflexively rumbled with a low growl, her eyes glowing gold. She bared her teeth and bit down.

Josie cried out, her nails digging into Hope's shoulders hard enough to draw blood. Hope surged forward and pressed Josie even more tightly against the door, the sudden movement causing it to audibly rattle in its frame.

Hope unsheathed her teeth and swallowed thickly, squirming closer with an enthusiastic groan. Josie whimpered mindlessly in response.

Josie cradled the back of Hope's head to prevent her from pulling away, her other hand kneading gentle circles into Hope's back.

Hope lost herself in the feed a bit, another possessive growl rumbling out of her chest while she pinned Josie's wrists to the wall. Josie clenched her eyes shut and tried not to make any more embarrassing noises, to no avail.

Hope eventually pulled back, but not all the way. She stayed pressed up against Josie, her rapid breaths puffing up against the new puncture wounds she'd just left behind as she struggled to get herself under control.

Then, Hope pulled her head back and bit into her own wrist, holding it out without stepping back. Josie easily accepted it, her mouth latching on without breaking eye contact.

Hope swallowed thickly the moment Josie did, her eyes dark and serious while she watched. “Thank you, Josie,” she murmured quietly, genuinely grateful.

Josie pulled back from Hope's wrist. She licked her lips and swallowed again, trying to get the metallic taste of Hope's blood out of her mouth. “My pleasure,” she replied simply, blushing at the roughness in her own voice and the truth of the statement.

Hope studied her for a moment longer before she stepped back, giving Josie some space.

Josie cleared her throat and stepped away from the door, staring down at her shoes. Suddenly, she felt extremely shy. She'd sort of lost control of her own behavior, and now she was feeling almost painfully embarrassed.

She'd literally _begged_ Hope to bite her, for fuck's sake.

When Josie reluctantly looked up, Hope was already grinning at her. Hope didn't look embarrassed at all. In fact, she looked thrilled, her eyes fully lit up. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully, staring up at Josie with puppy-dog eyes.

Josie rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, yeah," she agreed, biting her lip. "Sure."

Hope beamed at her. "Great," she said with an air of finality.

Hope slipped out the door, and just like that Josie was left to ponder over everything that just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp this is long
> 
> they're getting closer to being on the same page but josie's still kind of dumb
> 
> follow me on Twitter @th3nutcase


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!—
> 
> a) 99.99% sure that this qualifies as smut now   
> b) but only the last ~2000 words, so you have the option to read the ~5000 words before that & skip the rest if that makes you uncomfy  
> c) yes there's almost 7000 words in this chapter. no I don't know why.

Bedroom eyes.

That’s the only way that Josie could even think of to describe the way that Hope had been staring at her lately, ever since Josie had reluctantly admitted to how siphoning from Hope made her feel. 

( _Good_. So good. It felt better every single time—Josie felt like she was about to lose her goddamn mind just thinking about it.)

The bedroom eyes made it difficult for Josie not to just drag Hope into a closet and have her way with her.

(In a totally platonic way, of course.)

Josie didn’t know if Hope was even aware of it. She just kept staring at Josie from across the room, almost like she wanted to eat her.

In front of people.

It made Josie feel very nervous.

(It also made Josie feel a little bit hot and bothered, but that was another story.)

Josie was starting to develop a nervous habit of rubbing at her neck. It was as if she were double checking to make sure that there weren’t any fang marks in plain sight.

It was an irrational fear—Hope had been extra careful to heal her last time, especially after the whole _hickey_ incident.

(By some miracle, Alaric hadn’t attempted to bring up the subject again. He probably wanted to talk about it even less than Josie did.)

But Josie still felt paranoid. Hope wasn’t supposed to be feeding off of her directly, after all. If they slipped up and anybody found out about it, there would be consequences.

Not just reputation-related consequences, either. Josie’s dad would kill her.

(Or more like he’d try to find a way to kill Hope.)

Whenever Josie caught herself feeling a little bit thrilled about all of the sneaking around, she reminded herself that she _should_ be feeling paranoid—and then she twitched nervously, rubbing at the side of her neck.

It didn’t do much to address the issue. Hope’s bedroom eyes would just drift a little lower to watch the motion, and then she’d lick her lips and practically start drooling.

Again, in front of people.

Josie reminded herself to talk to Hope about it. She was being a little bit too obvious. It was really only a matter of time before somebody put two and two together.

Especially since Lizzie was back for Thanksgiving break.

Lizzie’s presence was hiking Josie’s Hope-related-anxiety up to an all-time high.

Lizzie seemed to want to know every single detail about what had been happening in her absence, which didn’t bode well for Josie at all.

“Raf’s still here, right?” Lizzie called absentmindedly over her shoulder, busy putting on lipstick in the mirror.

“Yup,” Josie replied simply, watching Lizzie carefully from her position on the bed as if she were dealing with a rabid animal.

A rabid animal who wasn’t paying much attention to her at the moment. Lizzie hummed without looking away from the mirror. “And Frodo?” she continued.

Josie frowned. “Landon left town a while ago,” she reminded Lizzie. “Remember? He left a note saying he was going to go ‘find himself’ last summer? You were here.”

Lizzie shrugged nonchalantly, capping her lipstick and looking very unconcerned about the matter. “Just wanted to make sure that he didn’t come back. You never know with that one,” she muttered. “How has our resident supernatural fruit salad been doing without him?”

Josie blinked. “You mean Hope?” she asked, her mouth running a little dry at the turn in the conversation.

Oh, no. They couldn’t start talking about _Hope_.

Josie would give herself away in a heartbeat. She could already feel herself beginning to panic.

Lizzie seemed totally unaware of Josie’s inner turmoil, moving over to her desk to put her lipstick away. “Yes, I mean Hope,” she confirmed, as though it should be obvious. “What does she even do with her time now that she doesn’t have to spend every waking moment saving poultry boy?”

Josie tensed.

Her mind’s eye was suddenly assaulted with a series of involuntary images— _Hope pressing her up against the wall of the closet, Hope pinning her to the door (that one was extra vivid—Josie was able to glance right over at the door in real time, after all)_.

Josie blinked quickly to try to stop her brain from visualizing exactly what Hope had been _doing_ without Landon around, her cheeks flooding with heat. “Uh, she’s fine,” she squeaked, trying very hard not to seem suspicious. “She just—she’s been doing… things.”

Lizzie frowned, turning away from the desk to look at Josie directly. “Things?” she echoed, confused. “What things?”

Josie barely resisted the urge to facepalm. “Y’know, Hope things,” she said vaguely, squirming a little and glancing away. She searched her mind for something (anything) to say. When she found it, she scrambled to say it a bit too quickly. “Working out, saving the world—oh, and I think she's been trying to paint more often.”

Lizzie paused for a moment, but then she hummed, apparently oblivious to Josie’s nerves. “Good for her,” she mused noncommittally, walking over and taking a seat a few feet away from Josie on the bed. “And what about you? What have you been up to while I’ve been gone?”

Josie tensed once again. _Hope moaning in her ear, pressed right up against her; Hope with her eyes shut tight, her lips slightly parted—_ “Nothing,” she blurted out gracelessly, her cheeks lighting up with a furious blush.

That response did it. Lizzie was officially aware that something unusual was going on, much to Josie’s horror. Her eyes narrowed. “Nothing?” she repeated slowly.

Josie swallowed thickly, staring down at her lap. “Yep, nothing,” she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

Lizzie just studied her with narrowed eyes for a long moment. “You’re acting suspicious,” she accused, matter of fact.

_Fuck,_ Josie thought miserably. _That didn’t take long at all._

Josie tried to think of something to say—some random excuse to get Lizzie off of her back. “I’m not acting suspicious,” she stalled in the meantime, cringing instantly at how unconvincing _that_ sounded. She cleared her throat. “I mean, I’m just feeling a little… tense. School’s a bit much, is all.”

That was absolute bullshit, Josie noted in the privacy of her own mind.

Lizzie seemed to take the bait, somehow, much to Josie’s surprise. “Online school?” she asked, concerned. “Or teaching?”

Josie blinked. “Both,” she replied.

“Hm,” Lizzie hummed. She gave Josie a reassuring smile. “Well, lucky for you, you get to have a nice little break while I cover for you.”

Josie sighed—more in relief than anything else, but Lizzie didn’t need to know that. “I wouldn’t really call it a break,” she mumbled, fiddling with her hands. “We’re investigating a monster.”

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. “You’re going on a cross-country romp with Hope,” she snarked, sending Josie a look. “It’s a break.”

Josie couldn’t help it—she blushed.

Why did Lizzie have to use the word _romp?_ It made it sound like Hope and Josie would be going on some kind of honeymoon adventure or something.

(Or maybe Josie’s brain was just being weird—maybe that’s not at all what it sounded like.)

Lizzie frowned. “Why are you blushing?” she asked bluntly.

Josie licked her lips, snapping out of it. “No reason,” she mumbled dismissively. “How’s school for you?”

Lizzie's eyes lit right up. She ranted about it for hours—about her roommates, her hot professor, how convenient it was to have MG there with her to compel the DJ at frat parties.

Josie realized that she could’ve avoided all of that embarrassment if she’d just asked about Lizzie’s life sooner.

* * *

Josie gave Lizzie very detailed instructions for running her class while she was gone.

She went over it all about twenty times before she felt confident that Lizzie wouldn’t end up getting any of her students fatally (or emotionally) injured while she was gone.

Pretty soon, Josie found herself in the backseat of a Jeep on the way toward the state line.

Kaleb was driving after a brief power struggle with Jed, who ended up sulking in the passenger seat.

Hope was in the back right next to her, which Josie thought was both a good thing and an absolutely terrible thing.

On one hand, she couldn’t think of a more preferable seating arrangement—on the other hand, it was painfully difficult to resist reaching over and touching Hope in some way, shape or form.

Josie was left feeling restless and nervous and all kinds of awkward being so close to Hope but unable to get closer.

Josie suffered from it for about ten minutes, but then she busied her hands with trying to untangle her headphones. It was going to be a long ride, after all, and she didn’t want to get carsick.

Right before she plugged her headphones into her ears, she was interrupted by Jed’s voice. “I thought you had a hickey?”

Josie nearly choked on her own spit. Startled, her eyes darted up. They widened when they found Jed twisted around in his seat, staring directly at her neck with a confused frown.

“What?” Josie blurted out gracelessly, already feeling herself start to blush.

As if things couldn’t get more awkward, Jed raised a hand and pointed vaguely toward her neck. “You had a hickey a couple days ago,” he stated matter-of-factly, apparently seeing nothing wrong with bringing this up in front of people. “Where’d it go?”

Josie just stared blankly at him, unsure of how to respond.

“It’s kind of weird how it’s completely gone, is all,” Jed continued. His tone was almost innocent, as if he were casually talking about the weather.

Josie cleared her throat and shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “I got rid of it,” she mumbled.

Jed raised an eyebrow.

Josie glanced back over at him, realizing that he wasn’t going to stop asking questions until his curiosity was satisfied. “Yeah, I, um…,” she began awkwardly. “I used a spell… more like a paste… with... herbs and stuff.”

Josie barely resisted the urge to cringe at her own awkwardness. Against her better judgement, she stole a quick glance at Hope.

Hope looked extremely tense. She was glaring at the side of Jed’s head, looking like she literally wanted to kill him.

He somehow didn’t seem to notice.

Josie quickly looked away, gulping. “So, it’s gone,” she blurted out, deciding it was a good idea to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

Jed blinked.

Josie cleared her throat. “Magic,” she murmured, emphasizing the word with weak jazz hands. She instantly regretted it. She stared down at her lap as her cheeks flooded with embarrassment.

Jed stared at her blankly for a moment longer, but then he hummed, apparently accepting the explanation. “Weird,” he muttered to himself, spinning around in his seat and facing forward again.

Josie breathed a sigh of relief, freed from his attention.

It was short-lived.

Jed turned back around to look at Josie again, as though another thought had suddenly occurred to him. “So, who gave it to you?” he asked curiously, once again fairly innocent and casual, like he was only asking because he was bored.

Josie blushed even harder, feeling like she was about to die of embarrassment.

_Hope pressing her up against the wall of the closet—_

Josie opened her mouth to respond (even though she had no clue what to say), but it wasn’t Josie's voice that answered.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Hope spat, her muscles tense enough that she looked like she was about to snap.

Jed and Josie both jumped a little bit, taken off guard by the fury in her voice. Jed finally twisted all the way around and realized that she’d been glaring a hole into the side of his head this whole time.

Jed’s throat bobbed slightly in response to the murderous rage in Hope’s eyes. He slowly raised his hands in the air like he was being held at gunpoint or trying not to provoke a wild animal. “Relax,” he said slowly. “I’m just asking—"

“ _Don’t_ ,” Hope hissed furiously, her lip literally curling back into a snarl. She leaned forward like she was ready to lunge at him.

Jed flinched, quickly spinning around to stare ahead again. “Okay, okay,” he muttered under his breath. “Damn.” 

The car fell back into an awkward silence. Jed was stiff, not daring to even turn his head. Kaleb cleared his throat but wisely chose not to comment, reaching out to turn up the radio instead.

Hope kept glaring intensely at the back of Jed’s head like she was ready to fight him in the car. Josie glanced at her warily out of the corner of her eye, unsure of how to calm her down.

She had an idea, then—one that was maybe a little bit stupid, or inappropriate, or even selfish.

_Fuck it,_ she thought. She swallowed, glancing up front to make sure that Jed and Kaleb weren’t paying attention.

Josie tentatively reached out and grabbed Hope’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

Hope nearly jumped out of her seat, startled at the contact. She turned to look at Josie with wide eyes, alarmed.

Josie glanced back at her and raised an eyebrow.

She saw Hope’s expression falter with uncertainty, her throat constricting with a gulp. She looked almost nervous, but she didn’t pull her hand away.

Josie gave her another moment to pull away, but she started to siphon ever-so-slightly when she didn’t.

It wasn’t nearly as inappropriate as Josie had been worried it would be. It was nothing too intense—just a soft, barely-there flow of magic between them. It was too slight and barely noticeable to be sexual.

Hope tensed at first, but after a moment she deflated with a sigh and relaxed. The tension fell from her shoulders and she slumped back against the seat, her eyes sliding closed like she was ready to take a nap.

Josie smiled, watching out of the corner of her eye as Hope’s mood did a complete 180.

* * *

The closer they got to their destination, the more difficult it was for Josie to sit still.

She was nervous, if she was being honest. Hope seemed to have fallen asleep at some point (it was sort of adorable—her mouth was slightly open and her forehead was awkwardly pressed up against the window). 

Josie was left alone, trying to block out her thoughts with her headphones.

It was getting dark outside, which meant that they’d probably be going to bed not long after they arrived. They didn’t have all of the money in the world, so they’d decided ahead of time to only get two motel rooms and double up.

Josie would be sharing a room with Hope.

The uncertainty of what would happen when they got there was tearing her apart inside.

Would Hope ask Josie to siphon from her again?

Or maybe the (very light) siphoning in the car was enough for her, and Hope would just want to go to sleep?

Then what? Would they share the bed? How big would the bed be? Would it be awkward? Should Josie offer to sleep on the floor, so that Hope wouldn’t feel uncomfortable?

The music wasn’t very effective at blocking out Josie’s thoughts, as it turned out. Her mind swirled in circles, going over the same questions over and over again. It was almost enough to make her carsick in and of itself.

She tried her hardest to ignore the fact that she was getting closer and closer to spending time with Hope in a motel room without supervision.

Eventually, Kaleb pulled into a parking lot and the car crawled to a halt. “Welp, we made it,” he drawled sarcastically under his breath.

Josie didn’t know if she should feel relieved or panic more.

Jed mumbled to himself, his wolf apparently displeased about being stuck in the car for so long. He didn’t hesitate before kicking open the door and stumbling out onto the pavement.

Josie gently nudged Hope’s shoulder with her free hand (Hope was still holding the other one tightly, even in her sleep).

Hope groaned, curling closer to the window and closing her eyes tighter.

Kaleb turned to glance back at them. He did a double-take when he saw their hands clasped together. He blinked, surprised, and stared at Josie, raising an eyebrow.

Josie froze like a deer in headlights, her cheeks flooding with heat.

Kaleb didn’t say a word. He just smirked slightly and turned back to the front, opening the door and getting out of the car.

Josie tried to convince herself that nothing had happened.

She focused on the task at hand, nudging Hope’s shoulder again. “Hope, we’re here,” she whispered. “We have to go inside.”

Hope mumbled something indecipherable under her breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘ _one minute.’_

“Hope,” Josie replied with a smile, her voice filled with mirth.

Hope’s eyes finally blinked open, slightly dazed and confused. She glanced around the car, noting the empty front seat and glancing out the window at the motel sign.

Hope looked at Josie last. She blinked. “Hi,” she muttered quietly, punctuating the statement with a cute little yawn.

Josie giggled. “Hey there,” she teased, squeezing Hope’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go get the key.”

Hope frowned. She reluctantly released Josie’s hand to push open the door. They both filed out of the car on the same side. Josie shut the door behind them while Hope stretched and dramatically rolled her shoulders.

Kaleb was already headed inside to get the keys on his own, as it turned out. Jed informed them of that fact, his voice tight and careful like he didn’t want to risk setting Hope off again.

Josie realized that Jed seemed to have moved all of their bags out of the trunk and onto the sidewalk already when he slammed the trunk closed. She reached down and grabbed her duffel bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

Jed almost instantly took off toward the woods behind the motel for a _“run,”_ claiming that he needed to stretch out his joints.

It was already pretty dark outside, but Josie figured that wolves must be well-equipped for that. She briefly wondered why Hope didn’t have the same idea. But, as soon as she turned to ask Hope about it, she froze.

Hope seemed to have fully woken up, and now her bedroom eyes were back—somehow even more shameless now that they were finally alone.

All of the questions that Josie had been agonizing over in the car came back in full force. She gulped. She couldn’t tell if she was excited or nervous or anxious or everything in between.

Hope nodded at her, taking a step closer. “You tired?” she murmured, licking her lips and glancing down to look at Josie’s.

Josie swallowed thickly, her heart stumbling a little out of rhythm. It felt like Hope was asking more than what the words meant on the surface. “U-uh,” she stuttered. “I’m—well, no—not… I mean, not really.”

Josie glanced down at her shoes and bit her lip, blushing at her own inability to form a sentence. She reluctantly looked up at Hope through her eyelashes.

Hope wasn’t even waiting for her to make eye contact. She was staring at Josie’s lips intently, like she was in a trance. Josie released her bottom lip from her teeth.

Hope’s eyes flashed, and she looked a lot like she was about to take a step even closer.

Kaleb walked up to them at that very moment. Josie jumped a little—she hadn’t even noticed his approach. “Here you go—room 110,” he said, holding out a room key.

Josie used the opportunity to look away from Hope, grabbing the key with a grateful smile. She somehow managed to not look as flustered as she felt.

Kaleb glanced around, apparently oblivious to the tension. “Where’s Jed?” he asked, scanning the parking lot.

Josie cleared her throat and shifted. Hope was still staring at her, but she tried her best to act normal. “Uh, he said he was going on a run,” she explained.

Kaleb frowned. “Now?” he asked. “But he won’t even know what room we’re in when he gets back.”

Josie blinked, still feeling the heat of Hope’s stare. It was a bit overwhelming and extremely difficult to ignore.

Kaleb sighed, frustrated. He plopped down on the curb. “Fine, I guess I’ll just wait out here for him,” he muttered to himself. He looked up, speaking louder and giving them a little wave. “See you guys in the morning.”

Josie gulped, realizing that they were being dismissed—which essentially meant that she had no excuse not to go into her room with Hope. “Goodnight,” she said quickly, turning to walk away.

It’s not that Josie didn’t want to be alone with Hope, by any means. She just had no idea what to expect, and that made her feel anxious.

She felt more and more anxious with every step, in fact, and feeling Hope’s stare trained on the back of her head wasn’t making things any easier.

Josie made quick work of finding the room, and then she was fumbling with the key to try to get the door open. She was embarrassed to see her hands shaking just a little. She took a deep breath to try to steady herself.

Josie told herself that she needed to calm down. They were just two platonic friends, sharing a room. It was no big deal. It was just Hope. Even if Hope asked Josie to siphon from her, that wasn’t a big deal, either—Josie had done it before.

(God, did Josie want to do it again—so, _so_ badly.)

She’d done it all before, and she knew exactly what to expect.

Everything was going to be fine. Fine and normal.

If Hope noticed Josie freaking out a little bit, she didn’t mention it.

Josie finally managed to get the door open. Her anxiety reached an all-time high as she took a few steps inside. She glanced around, taking in the little TV, the door to the bathroom—the bed.

The single bed.

It wasn’t a shock that there was only one, really. It would’ve been more of a surprise if there were two.

Josie had just expected that it would be a little tiny bit bigger.

She took a step further into the room and turned back to glance at Hope. “Uh,” she started awkwardly, finding it difficult to make eye contact. “Should I take the floor?”

For just a moment, Hope was shocked out of bedroom-eye-mode by the question. Her brow furrowed with confusion, her head cocking to the side. She scoffed out a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she murmured, her voice low. Her bedroom-eye-mode flipped back on, the transition as sharp as a humanity switch. “We can share.”

Josie felt her mouth go dry—at the statement, at the way Hope was looking at her, at Hope’s _voice._ She cleared her throat. “Right,” she replied awkwardly, unable to look away for a moment.

The tension was making it a little bit hard for Josie to breathe.

“Um, so... that was a long drive,” Josie noted, managing to turn back around and walk further into the room.

“Mhm,” Hope hummed noncommittally.

Josie heard the door click shut, the sound causing her heart to jump up into her throat. She really needed to calm down, she reminded herself—she was making something out of nothing.

Josie swallowed, placing her bag down on the chair and unzipping it—mostly as an excuse to look at anything other than Hope.

Josie rifled through everything she’d brought aimlessly. Her hands stumbled over her clothes, her toothbrush. She found a protein bar that she’d forgotten she packed. “Are you hungry?” she called out over her shoulder, just to break the silence.

Suddenly, Josie felt Hope right behind her. She stiffened. Hope had managed to move across the room without a sound. 

Josie felt the heat of Hope’s chest pressing up against her back. Hope reached out, resting her hand on Josie’s hip. “Now that you mention it,” she whispered in Josie’s ear, brushing Josie’s hair to the side to expose her neck. She planted a soft, lingering kiss against Josie’s shoulder. “I haven’t eaten all day.”

Josie swallowed, taken off guard by Hope’s proximity. She chewed on her lip. “Right. Um…,” she trailed off and turned around.

Hope let her hand fall from Josie’s waist, taking a little step back to give her some room. She licked her lips, watching Josie expectantly, awaiting her response.

Josie’s gaze faltered, her nerves getting the better of her. “Did you want to… uh, what do you wanna do for dinner?”

Josie felt like an idiot the moment the words left her mouth.

It was so easy to forget that Hope was a vampire sometimes.

Was there a protocol for this, Josie wondered? Did tribrids even like real food? 

Hope didn’t seem phased. She just stared at Josie for a long moment, her eyes darkening. A sinful smirk spread across her face.

Hope took a step closer and glanced down, her fingertips brushing appraisingly over Josie’s sides. “Why don’t you get on the bed for me?” she whispered, her voice husky and suggestive.

Josie stilled, a shiver rolling down her spine.

Oh.

That’s right.

Hope wanted to eat _her_.

Josie’s lips parted. She could do nothing but stare for a long moment, feeling the heavy tension in the room weighing down on her, her cheeks flooding with heat. 

Hope stared back at her, raising an expectant eyebrow.

“Um…,” Josie replied carefully, her gaze faltering.

She considered it. Did she want this?

Yes.

Without a doubt, _yes_. Part of her was wondering why she wasn’t on the bed already.

She swallowed thickly, glancing up at Hope, who was still waiting patiently for her to answer. She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she replied.

Josie hesitated for only a moment longer before she stepped over to the bed and sat on its edge, looking up at Hope expectantly—nervously.

Hope stepped closer and reached out, caressing Josie’s cheek. Her smirk faded—her expression grew serious. “Do you trust me?” she murmured, gently trailing a thumb across Josie’s bottom lip.

Josie stared up at her, her eyes softening. “Yes, of course,” she whispered, like she couldn’t understand how Hope could possibly doubt it.

Hope smiled—genuinely smiled. She stepped forward and planted a firm kiss on Josie’s forehead.

Josie’s heart skipped a beat.

Hope stepped back. “Okay,” she replied simply. “Lie down for me, then.”

Josie froze for a moment, the command taking her off guard.

Hope was still smiling at her, though, so it wasn’t long before she obeyed, scooting back across the bed. She hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Hope uncertainly, but then she awkwardly laid her head down on the pillows.

Hope watched intently, her gaze scanning over Josie’s body like she was studying art—or maybe prey.

The look sent another shiver down Josie’s spine. She tried not to let herself get too excited.

After a pause, Hope climbed up on the bed and straddled Josie’s waist.

Josie stilled, her breath hitching sharply in her throat.

They hadn’t done _this_ before.

Hope smiled down at Josie, reaching out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’ve got you, Jo,” she murmured softly. “Relax.”

Josie took a deep breath. She felt some of the tension drain from her shoulders and reminded herself to breathe.

It was just Hope, after all.

Whatever Hope was about to do with her, she’d be safe.

Hope’s eyes lingered on Josie’s face for a moment, as though she were checking to make sure that Josie was okay.

When she was satisfied, she trailed a finger down Josie’s neck and stared intently at its path, entranced. “Perfect,” she whispered. 

Josie licked her lips, watching Hope’s expression. She awkwardly folded her hands over her stomach, not knowing where to put them.

Hope trailed her fingertip even lower, dragging it across Josie’s collarbone. “You’re so perfect,” she murmured under her breath, almost as though she were talking to herself.

Josie felt her chest flood with warmth.

She really needed to talk to Hope about this, too, she realized. The touching—the staring.

It seemed like a bit more than just a platonic snack.

It was making it way, way too easy for Josie to fall in love with her.

But for now, Josie would allow Hope to touch her however she wanted. She’d let Hope do just about anything, as a matter of fact, as long as it meant that Hope would keep looking at her the way Hope was looking at her.

Hope’s gaze drifted down to glance at Josie’s chest, her lips parted and her eyes dark.

Hope swallowed, shifted and suddenly pulled her sweater off over her head.

Josie froze, her eyes widening in shock. “W-what are you doing?” she blurted out.

Hope didn’t pause, tossing the sweater aside and already starting to unbutton her shirt. “Giving you some space to work with,” she explained simply, pulling her arms out of the sleeves when she addressed the final button and tossing the shirt aside, too.

Josie blatantly stared at the skin that had just been revealed to her for the first time, her pupils blown and her mouth agape. She could practically feel her brain short circuit.

She’d thought about seeing Hope like this before, sure, but she’d never expected it to actually _happen_.

Hope was even more beautiful than Josie could’ve imagined—the soft curve of her hips, the way her muscles flexed under her skin when she shifted to sit more comfortably.

Josie snapped her mouth shut before she could start drooling.

Hope glanced down and chuckled, taking note of where Josie’s hands were awkwardly folded over her stomach. “Come on,” she murmured teasingly, reaching out to gently pull Josie’s hands apart. “Don’t be shy. Take what you want.”

Josie gulped, staring up at Hope, uncertain. She only found a raised eyebrow—a challenge. 

Josie raised her hands, glancing up at Hope one more time to check for any objection before she carefully brushed her fingertips over Hope’s hips.

Josie’s gaze drifted down to focus on where her hands met Hope’s skin, her lips parting in awe. She slowly trailed her hands up Hope’s sides like she was handling something sacred, brushing her fingertips across Hope’s ribs and down over her abs. 

Hope sucked in a deep breath, punctuated by a shaky exhale. She licked her lips and left them parted.

“Wow,” Josie breathed absentmindedly, amazed.

She trailed her fingertips up again, stroking the skin just below Hope’s breasts.

Hope breathed in deep again.

Josie’s eyes darkened.

She wanted her bra _off_.

She wanted to touch Hope everywhere.

But she caught herself, holding her tongue before she could say something embarrassing (like _“take it all off”_ , for example). She tried to remind herself of what they were doing here.

Josie realized that she should probably get on with it before things got awkward. Hope didn’t just want Josie to touch her, after all—she was on top of Josie for a reason. 

Hope was still staring down at her, watching her carefully. Josie glanced up at her, her own gaze faltering with a bit of uncertainty. 

Josie took a deep breath. She steadied Hope with a hand on her hip and pressed the palm of her other hand flush against Hope’s abs, wasting no time before she began to siphon.

Hope let out a sharp, shaky sigh, her eyes instantly sliding shut. She sucked in another breath. “That’s it,” she exhaled. “Just like that.”

Josie’s eyes trailed up—over Hope’s thighs where they straddled her hips, Hope’s well-defined abs, her chest, the blissed-out expression on her face.

“God, you’re so gorgeous,” Josie murmured absentmindedly.

Hope just whimpered softly in response.

With her non-siphoning hand, Josie trailed her thumb over Hope’s hipbone.

Hope’s eyelids fluttered open, her pupils blown to the point where Josie could barely see the blue of her irises. She stared down at Josie with the same bedroom eyes that she’d been aiming at her all week. 

For once, it didn’t make Josie feel nervous—not at all. Josie felt a thrill of excitement surge down her spine along with the magic. Her own breathing began to get a little out of control. Her eyes darkened even further, entranced by the sight above her.

Josie squirmed a little, already uncomfortably aroused.

Hope licked her lips, still staring down at Josie even though her eyes were a bit out of focus. “Lower,” she whispered between shaky breaths, nudging Josie’s hand downward.

Josie gulped but obeyed, pausing to move her hand just below Hope’s belly button. She pressed her palm flat on the skin of Hope’s pelvis, hesitating for only a second before she resumed siphoning.

The effect was instantaneous. Hope sucked in a violent gasp, her breath audibly hitching in her throat and her eyes clenching shut. She leaned forward slightly, bracing a hand on the headboard. “Oh, _fuck_ ,” she moaned, her voice low and rough.

Josie’s eyes widened at the reaction.

Hope whined desperately, the sound borderline pornographic.

Josie’s heart began to pound so hard in her chest that she could practically hear it.

Hope didn’t seem to notice, lost in the sensation. She grabbed Josie’s wrist in a vice grip, holding her hand firmly in place. “Jo, that f-feels…,” she trailed off, cutting herself off with a soft moan.

Josie sat up like the sound was a siren’s call, entranced. Hope shifted to sit in her lap, wrapping her legs around Josie’s waist and bracing a hand on her shoulder. She whimpered softly, slumping forward and burying her face in Josie’s neck.

Hope had never reacted quite like this before.

Josie wondered if it felt different, siphoning from this spot. The energy flowed a bit differently, Josie noticed. It sort of pulsated gently, like the push and pull of a tide.

It certainly _sounded_ like it felt different, if that was anything to go by. Hope was making the most enticing, desperate little noises.

Josie wanted nothing more than to draw out more of them, so she siphoned just a bit harder.

It worked like a charm. Hope’s breathing grew loud and ragged, her shaky exhales puffing against Josie’s collarbone.

“How does it feel?” Josie murmured into Hope’s ear, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Hope took a moment to reply—to the point where Josie wondered if she’d even heard the question.

“Like…,” Hope eventually managed—barely, cutting herself off with a heavy breath. “It’s like… like you’re…,” she trailed off.

Suddenly, Hope gasped, her hips bucking but finding no friction. Josie’s breath hitched at the corresponding surge of power.

“J-Josie, I…,” Hope breathed, clearly struggling to form words.

Josie took pity on her, reaching up with her free hand to cradle the back of Hope’s head, encouraging the tribrid to burrow closer to her neck. “Sh, sweetheart,” she whispered softly. “Tell me later.”

Hope sighed, grabbing the fabric of Josie’s shirt and balling it into fists.

There was another sudden surge of power and Josie let out a quiet moan of her own. 

Hope bucked her hips once again, to no avail. She let out a frustrated huff. “I need…,” she muttered, squirming in Josie’s lap. She gave Josie’s shoulder a weak push. “Lie down.”

Josie swallowed thickly, in love with the way Hope was a little more demanding when she got excited like this. “Okay,” she murmured, falling back with little resistance.

Hope followed, clinging to Josie’s shoulders and lying down flush against her. While Josie shifted to keep her palm steady against Hope’s stomach, Hope shifted to straddle one of Josie’s thighs.

Hope rocked her hips, letting out a relieved sigh when she finally got some much-needed friction.

Josie’s breath hitched, both in response to the way Hope was shamelessly grinding against her and in response to the pressure between her own legs.

Josie shifted slightly, raising her knee so that Hope could get a better angle.

Hope kissed along Josie’s jaw to show her appreciation. Instinctively, Josie tilted her head to give Hope more access. Hope let out a pleased hum, roughly kissing Josie’s throat.

Josie whined, squirming a little under Hope’s attention. It only encouraged Hope to be a little rougher with her.

Hope pulled back slightly, gasping for breath. “Baby, can I…,” she purred shakily into Josie’s ear. “I wanna taste you.”

_Baby, I wanna taste you._ The words echoed in Josie’s head, her heart rate spiking with anticipation. 

Hope was trying to kill her, Josie thought—she must’ve been.

Josie gave an enthusiastic nod to signal her consent, finding herself unable to speak.

Hope’s lips pressed against Josie’s throat again, their edges curling up into a little smirk. It was only there for a moment before she opened her mouth and bit down.

Josie gasped, a hand instinctively coming up to paw at the muscles flexing in Hope’s back.

Hope growled low in her throat, grinding down harder.

Josie was feeling a little bit overwhelmed. She was practically overflowing with magic, but Hope seemed to have more to spare. Hope was putting pressure in all of the right places, and Josie felt like she was about to explode.

Literally.

“Hope,” Josie whispered breathlessly, her nails digging into Hope’s shoulder as if to ground herself. “I-I’m…,” she trailed off helplessly.

Hope just continued to grind, Josie’s skirt riding up just enough that Hope’s thigh was rubbing against her underwear with every roll of her hips.

Josie gasped for air. “Fuck, I think—”

Josie cut herself off with an embarrassing whine when Hope managed to put the slightest bit of pressure on just the right spot, her own hips canting up in search of more friction. When she found it, her head fell back, her eyes falling shut.

Hope sucked harder at her neck, as if her blood was tasting better with every passing moment.

Josie felt some kind of electric current coursing under her skin—a side effect of the magic, or the stimulation, or maybe both.

“Oh, God,” Josie exhaled breathlessly. She kept her eyes clenched shut, her nails trailing down Hope’s back. The energy flowing from Hope’s navel was more intense, now, rolling into Josie like the waves at high tide. Her next words came out in a desperate, jumbled mess—“Hope, you’re gonna make me come.”

Hope’s hips instantly faltered in their movement, as if she were completely taken off guard by the statement—as if she hadn’t even realized that that’s where this was headed.

She only froze for a second before she let out a low, possessive growl. In seconds, she shifted and slipped a hand under Josie’s skirt.

Josie’s eyes shot open when she felt Hope push her underwear aside, but they rolled back into her head when Hope began to draw tight circles around her clit. “ _Hope_ ,” she whispered low like a prayer, her back arching up off of the bed.

Hope slipped a finger inside of her and right back out again.

Hope teased her for a moment, but then she slid two fingers inside and curled them hard. Her thumb bracketed Josie’s clit while she pumped, effortlessly hitting a sensitive spot on Josie’s front wall.

It was way too much. The magic, the slight ache of her neck—just the fact that this was really happening, that Hope Mikaelson was moving inside of her. Josie tensed, her breath hitching in her throat. She cried out as the friction propelled her into a mind-numbing orgasm.

Josie lost control of her siphoning completely, Hope’s power coursing up her arm like a tsunami.

Just a heartbeat later, Hope let out a surprised, desperate whimper. She practically writhed and sucked at Josie’s neck like her blood was a drug she couldn’t get enough of.

Suddenly, every muscle in Hope’s body tensed like a bowstring.

Josie came back to herself after a few moments of mindless bliss with a deep, desperate inhale. She gasped for air and struggled to think for a few moments, her mind consumed by a powerful sense of calm. 

Hope collapsed against her only a moment later, her body falling limp like a ragdoll. She released Josie’s neck and panted in her ear, struggling just as much as Josie was to even out her breath.

They fell into a heavy, still silence while they both tried to get their heart-rates under control.

After a minute Hope moved, rolling off of Josie to lay down beside her on her back.

They both stared up at the ceiling until their breathing had completely settled down, and then they both stayed very still in a stunned silence.

_Fuck_ , Josie thought, the astonished word echoing around in her otherwise empty head. She blinked. A few heavy heartbeats passed before her eyes widened with panic. _Wait, what the fuck does this mean?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if this is good ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. Chapter 5

The ceiling wasn’t much to look at, but Josie kept her eyes fixated on it anyway.

It was safer than looking over at Hope, after all.

Hope Mikaelson.

Still-shirtless Hope Mikaelson, who was lying on the bed beside her.

Still-shirtless Hope Mikaelson, whose breathing was a little bit unsteady from what Josie could hear.

(It was the only thing that Josie could hear, in fact, besides the frantic beat of her own heart.)

Josie felt like she’d just been on an emotional rollercoaster.

First, the tension, heavy enough that she felt like she might suffocate from the moment Hope shut the door.

The way it built and built with every move Hope made—when Hope ordered Josie to get on the bed; when Hope crawled on top of her.

When Josie started to siphon and Hope started to lose her composure.

Hope didn’t even have to _try_ to get Josie all wound up.

It was all in the way Hope got that look in her eye—the determination. Like she wanted something and would do just about anything to get it; like she was barely keeping herself under control.

It was almost the same authoritative look that Hope got when she was executing a plan to take down a monster.

But it was darker.

Wilder.

_(Sexual.)_

And, God, the way Hope acted so shameless the moment she got Josie where she wanted her… the way she lost herself in the sensation, like she was helpless to it…

It drove Josie crazy.

It made her feel _desperate_.

(In more ways than one.)

But Josie was pretty good at controlling herself, usually. Even when Hope took off her shirt, Josie did a decent job of reining herself in.

(Sure, she got a little bit handsy, but she got back to the task at hand quickly enough.)

Which was why Josie surprised herself when she lost control. When she started whimpering and swearing, barely able to form a coherent sentence. When she blurted out those words— _“Hope, you’re gonna make me come.”_

She was begging Hope for relief, more than anything else.

Begging Hope to put her out of her misery.

It was encoded in the shaky breaths between her words, the way she clawed at Hope’s back, the way her hips jerked and her head tilted back to give Hope more access to her neck.

She was so far gone.

It was beyond embarrassing for her now.

At the time, Josie hadn’t cared about anything besides chasing that high. Nothing else mattered—not her pride, not the limits of friendship.

God, what a high it was.

The thrill when Hope crossed that line and started to touch her was unlike anything else.

The pleasure.

God, the _pleasure_.

Josie hadn’t even known that she could feel that good.

And afterward, the post-orgasmic bliss that wiped her mind blank; that heavy, palpable calm that weighed down on her like a warm blanket, like all was right in the world.

But now that Hope had rolled off of her, the panic was starting to set in.

The heat of the moment had more or less worn off, and Josie didn’t know what to expect.

What if Hope regretted it?

Worse, what if Hope was disgusted with her? Would she call all of this off and say that it was a mistake?

Josie didn’t know if she could go back to how things were before their… arrangement. It felt so far away, like a distant memory.

Would this ruin their friendship?

Josie was too terrified of that to even look away from the ceiling.

She really wished that Hope would say something. Every moment of silence made her feel one step closer to a panic attack.

Josie licked her lips. Yes, one of them had to say something. They couldn’t just lay there forever staring at the ceiling.

They had to talk about it. Or, well, Josie didn’t really want to talk about it (she didn’t know how to), but they had talk about—about _something_. They couldn’t just stay silent.

Hope really needed to say something— _anything_ —as soon as possible, because Josie had no idea what to say.

In fact, the longer Hope remained silent, the more likely it was that Josie was going to say something absolutely idiotic just to break the silence.

She felt some nondescript, idiotic thing hovering right on the tip of her tongue, and Hope really, really needed to save her from it.

Luckily, Hope somehow managed to read her mind. She cleared her throat before she spoke. “Wow,” she said simply.

Josie swallowed thickly.

That didn’t tell her much about Hope’s mindset—not at all. It didn’t give her much to go on, but it was better than nothing, Josie supposed. It was better than silence.

Josie stole a glance at Hope out of the corner of her eye, but her gaze faltered almost submissively when Hope tried to meet her eye in turn. “Yeah,” she mumbled to herself, still in shock.

Hope stayed still for a minute, but then she rolled on her side to face Josie.

Josie tensed, feeling Hope’s eyes on her— _studying_ her. She stayed still for a pause, but then she shifted, hesitantly rolling over to mirror Hope, even though she was still unable to make eye contact.

Hope watched Josie closely, her expression serious. “You okay?” she prompted gently.

Josie blinked, surprised. She glanced up at Hope and then stared down at the sheets again, her throat bobbing. Hope was lying so close—it was making Josie nervous. “Yeah,” she replied, her voice soft and hesitant. “Are you?”

Hope took a moment to respond. She stared at Josie for a moment, making sure that her answer was honest. Then she seemed to relax a little, a lazy grin spread over her lips. “Yeah,” she replied a little goofily. “More than okay.”

Josie felt her chest flood with warmth. Hope was struggling to contain her smile.

It was sort of adorable.

Josie’s eyes lingered on Hope's expression. She gave Hope a shy little smile back, even as her gaze faltered again. She didn’t seem to know how to act.

They fell back into silence, but Josie was a little less stressed by it this time.

Hope reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind Josie’s ear. The touch was gentle—loving, even. It took Josie off guard. She stilled, her lips parting with surprise.

“Was it good?” Hope asked quietly. “I didn’t cross a line or anything, right?”

“No, of course not!” Josie blurted out immediately, her eyes widening. She couldn’t let Hope worry about that for another second. “You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do—it was perfect.”

Hope’s eyes lit up.

Meanwhile, Josie visibly flinched at the intensity of her own statement, blushing heavily. “I mean, it was… fine,” she muttered quietly, trying in vain to keep it cool.

Hope grinned. She grabbed Josie's hand and kissed the tops of her knuckles. “Good,” she murmured, a teasing glint in her eye. “It was _fine_ for me, too.”

Josie glanced up at her from under her eyelashes, feeling a bit timid.

Hope seemed entirely unbothered. She just looked excited, happy—not uncertain of what they’d just done at all.

It put Josie’s mind at ease. She sucked in a deep breath and released it, her shoulders deflating as some of the tension left her body.

Maybe things were okay, after all.

Josie smiled back, because Hope was still grinning at her as if she couldn’t help it.

Hope scooted closer, and suddenly she was curling up against Josie’s side, her head resting on Josie’s shoulder.

Josie stilled for a moment, but then she wrapped an arm around Hope’s shoulders and pulled her in closer. She tried to ignore her shock at the fact that they were cuddling now, just like that.

After sex.

(Holy shit. They just had _sex_.)

Hope stayed quiet for a pause, relaxing with a heavy sigh and closing her eyes. “Thank you, Jo,” she murmured quietly, her words muffled against Josie's shoulder. “I really needed that.”

Josie let the corner of her lip pull up, since she was no longer self-conscious under Hope’s stare. Yeah. Things seemed to be okay, much to her relief. “Of course,” she replied, her voice soft. “Anytime.”

Hope smiled, wrapping an arm around Josie’s waist and curling in closer. “What would I do without you?” she mumbled absentmindedly against Josie’s skin, sounding like she was about to fall asleep. 

Josie took a moment to respond, rubbing gentle circles into Hope’s back. “Bottle it all up and explode, I guess,” she joked.

Hope just hummed in agreement.

They cuddled for a few minutes in silence. Josie let herself relax. Everything about the situation felt surreal, but it also felt nice. Hope was warm and much softer than expected, wriggling closer like she was afraid that Josie might disappear.

It seemed like Hope intended to fall asleep like this.

Josie was considering turning off the light when there was a sudden knock on the door.

They both tensed, the sound abruptly forcing them to remember that there was an outside world.

Hope frowned, pulling away and sitting up to stare at the door as if she were wishing she had X-Ray vision. “Fuck,” she mumbled, rubbing lazily at her eyes. “Who’s that?”

Josie didn’t reply because she couldn’t think of a good answer.

A moment later, the knocking came again, a bit louder.

Hope sighed, as if she’d been hoping that whoever it was would give up. “Stay here,” she called over her shoulder, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to stand up. “I’ll get it.”

Josie averted her eyes with a blush. Hope was still shirtless, after all, and ogling her felt like an invasion of privacy despite everything they’d just done.

Hope seemed to notice her state of undress with a bit of surprise, scrambling to find her shirt and button it back up. The knock came again and Hope scoffed, apparently very irritated by it. She took a moment to run a hand through her hair as a futile attempt to straighten it out before she swung the door open.

Hope instantly scowled, her mood worsening. “What do you want?” she spat a bit rudely, clearly not pleased about the interruption.

Josie frowned, sitting up. Hope looked like she was about to challenge whoever was on the other side to a duel.

To Josie’s surprise, it was Jed’s voice that responded. “Are you busy?” he asked, his tone a bit unsure and cautious.

Hope blinked. Her brow furrowed with confusion, like she couldn’t figure out why he was asking. “We’re in a motel,” she drawled, as if he were dumb. “What exactly do you think I’d be busy doing?”

Josie bit her lip. She had a few ideas.

Jed shrugged. "I dunno," he said distractedly, rising to his tippy toes to try to see into the room over her shoulder. "Kaleb said you might be busy for some reason."

Hope stepped into his line of sight and pulled the door closer to her hip, her scowl deepening.

It was enough to make him stop. He looked down at Hope again. “Is Josie in there?” he asked.

The mood instantly shifted for the worse. Any tension that their… activities… had alleviated for Hope came flooding back, her back stiffening and her expression growing cold. “What do you want with Josie, exactly?” she asked, her voice low and dangerous.

Jed didn’t respond right away. Hope glared at him like she was trying to incinerate him on the spot. He tensed in turn, but he just seemed confused under it all.

Josie acted quickly, hopping off of the bed and rushing over. She stood close enough to Hope that Jed couldn’t see her place her hand on the small of Hope’s back.

Hope calmed instantly at the touch, huffing out a breath. Her glare lightened up a bit.

Jed gave Josie a tight smile. “Hey,” he said simply.

Josie blinked, uncertain. “Hey,” she echoed slowly, glancing at Hope out of the corner of her eye to make sure that the tribrid wasn’t about to lash out.

Jed seemed like he’d prefer to ignore Hope’s hostility, at least for the time being. He addressed Josie directly. “I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner,” he explained.

Josie’s eyes widened with surprise. She felt Hope’s back go rigid again and reflexively reacted, slipping her hand under Hope’s shirt to stroke her skin.

Hope didn’t exactly relax, but she didn’t explode, either, which Josie considered a success.

Josie swallowed. “Oh,” she said dumbly.

Josie watched Jed’s eyes begin to drift down toward her neck. Her eyes widened and she reacted instantly. In a panic, she used her free hand to cover up the mark before he could get a good look.

Jed blinked, confused. “Your hickey’s back?” he asked, confused, his gaze still lingering on her neck.

Josie felt Hope tense even further.

“No,” Josie blurted out.

Jed frowned at her.

Josie resisted the urge to facepalm. “I mean, yes,” she said carefully. “Um, it was never gone. The… magic I used… was just an illusion spell… thing.”

Jed’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Oh?” he replied. “Why did it stop working?”

Josie blinked. “Well, I’m not gonna… waste my energy on it,” she muttered. She gulped. “In the room.”

Jed stared at her skeptically, like he didn’t entirely buy that.

Josie felt a flood of panic. “Y’know, I, um…,” she started. “It’s actually getting kinda late, and I packed a snack for myself, so I might have to pass.”

“Oh,” Jed replied with a small frown, not looking nearly as insulted as Josie had been worried he’d be. “Well, do you wanna get breakfast tomorrow instead, then?”

Josie stilled, hesitating. “Okay,” she blurted out, opting to take the path of least resistance and get the conversation over with as soon as possible.

Jed nodded, satisfied. “Cool,” he replied. “I’ll come by in the morning. Is nine good?”

Josie just awkwardly nodded back in response, but that seemed to be enough for him. He gave another tight smile, spared Hope a wary glance and left.

Josie had barely shut the door before Hope was talking, her voice hushed like she was trying to make sure that Jed wouldn’t hear it through the door. “You’re going on a date with him?” she whispered, as if the question were urgent.

Josie recoiled, shocked. “It’s not a _date_ ,” she whispered back instantly, as though the suggestion was absurd. Her gaze faltered uncertainly when she saw Hope’s jaw tick. Her next statement came out in a defensive mumble. “It’s just a friendly... breakfast thing.”

Hope scoffed out a laugh, raising an eyebrow. “Does he know that?” she challenged.

Josie hesitated. “I mean,” she started, uncertain. “I think so.”

Hope nodded, but her eyes still held a challenge. “Then why didn’t he invite me, too?” she asked, as though the question were rhetorical.

Josie stared for a moment, as if she expected Hope to say _sike_. When Hope just kept looking at her expectantly, she barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. “Maybe because the waiter isn’t on the menu, Hope,” she retorted sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

Hope hesitated, her expression faltering. “So?” she muttered, shifting on her feet like a defiant child. “I could get a rare steak or something.”

Josie fought back a smile. Hope was kind of adorable, even when she was being weird. “Oh, yeah?” she teased. “For breakfast?”

Hope shrugged. “I could compel the waiter to think it’s normal,” she mumbled under her breath, avoiding eye contact and sort of shrinking back into herself.

Josie’s heart warmed. “Hope,” she murmured seriously, waiting for Hope to look up at her. “It’s not a date.”

Hope bit her lip. “I don’t like it,” she stated.

Josie’s lips parted, surprised at the strength behind the statement. She blinked, not knowing how to respond.

Hope’s eyes scanned over Josie’s face, like she was studying her reaction. She glanced down at the mark on Josie’s neck. “I don’t like the way he keeps looking at your neck,” she stated again, matter of fact.

Josie blushed, averting eye contact. She shifted on her feet. “Hope, he’s looking at a mark _you_ put there,” she murmured quietly.

Hope frowned, unsatisfied.

Josie looked back at Hope, her expression serious. “I wouldn’t let him touch my neck,” she said quietly. “I wouldn’t let anyone. You know that, right?”

It felt like a promise.

Hope stared at Josie like she didn’t know what to make of it.

“I don’t see him like that,” Josie insisted, her tone firm. “It’s not a date.”

Hope hesitated. Then she swallowed, licking her lips. “Okay,” she replied simply.

Josie licked her lips. “Okay?”

Hope nodded. “Okay,” she repeated, her voice steadier.

Just like that, the tension dropped. Hope was calm. It was as though she trusted Josie entirely.

Josie tried not to panic too much about what that meant—she tried not to let herself think too hard about why Hope would even care if it were a date.

Hope glanced at Josie’s neck again and frowned. She stepped closer, gently brushing her fingertips over the mark. “We have to be more careful,” she murmured quietly. “He almost saw.”

* * *

Waking up wrapped around Hope was really the best feeling in the world, Josie realized the next morning.

Which made it all the more painful to get up and leave when Jed knocked on her door.

They ended up at some diner down the street, and then Jed ordered almost the whole menu. Josie watched him shovel eggs into his mouth for a full minute before she realized that he wasn’t planning to stop.

Josie cleared her throat. “Wow,” she said, awkwardly pushing a home-fry around with her knife. “You really eat a lot, huh?”

Jed paused, his fork stilling in the air halfway through its trajectory to his mouth. “You calling me fat?” he mumbled around a mouthful of eggs.

Josie froze, staring at him blankly.

He just stared back, raising an eyebrow.

Josie opened her mouth and shut it again, not quite sure what to say. “I—uh, no,” she sputtered, feeling a spike of panic. “Of course not.”

Jed gave her an awkward, tight smile. “I’m kidding,” he said.

Josie blinked. “Oh.”

Jed shrugged and shoved the next spoonful of eggs into his mouth, chewing and swallowing for a minute before he answered. “You seem tense,” he observed simply.

Josie frowned. “I’m not tense,” she protested, picking up a piece of toast and eying it warily. “I’m just… I'm not a morning person, I guess.”

Jed hummed. “Weird,” he muttered. “I figured you’d be a morning person.”

Josie’s brow furrowed with confusion.

Jed shrugged. “Y’know,” he started. He gestured at her shirt. “All the yellow.”

Josie glanced down at herself. She was, indeed, wearing yellow. “Oh,” she said dumbly. “Right.”

Jed picked up a piece of bacon. “So,” he said. “Do you play any sports?”

Josie frowned slightly, surprised by the question. “Um,” she started. “You mean besides being bad at football on purpose?”

Jed blinked and looked up at her, the joke not landing.

Josie cleared her throat awkwardly. “No,” she said quietly, punctuating the statement by taking a bite of her toast.

Jed looked down, pushing the eggs around on his plate. “Do you watch any?” he tried.

Josie took a sip of her orange juice before she spoke. “No,” she said again.

Jed frowned, as though he found her answer frustrating. “Oh,” he muttered under his breath, looking down to take a bite of toast himself.

Josie studied him subtly while he wasn’t paying attention, trying to figure him out.

Jed licked his lips and looked up again. “Well, what do you do?” he asked bluntly.

Josie frowned. “What do you mean?”

Jed shrugged. “Like, in your free time, I mean,” he clarified.

Josie paused to think about her answer, surprised by the question. She didn’t do much, if she was being honest with herself. “Magic, I guess,” she said with a shrug, taking another sip of her juice. “Or research.”

Jed stared at her blankly. “Research on what?”

Josie blinked. "Um…," she trailed off, feeling awkward. "Magic."

Jed hummed, looking down at his eggs again with a little confused frown.

Josie took another bite of her toast, just as an excuse to do something.

“What’s that like?” Jed asked suddenly.

Josie’s brow furrowed. “What’s what like?” she asked.

Jed shrugged. “Magic,” he said.

Some magic felt amazing, Josie thought, like siphoning from Hope while she—“It’s, um—it’s good,” Josie blurted out, fighting off a blush. She cleared her throat, thanked God that Jed wasn’t a psychic and stabbed a home fry. “Hard to describe.”

Jed nodded, apparently not noticing her blush by some miracle. “Right,” he replied.

Josie glanced at him. She didn’t really know why he was trying so hard to get a conversation going, but she felt bad for not pulling her weight. “What about you?” she asked. “What do you do in your free time?”

Jed shrugged. “I mostly just hang out with the pack,” he answered simply.

Josie nodded slowly. She didn’t really know what to do with that. “Right,” she said.

Jed perked up, like he’d had some realization. “Do you have a pack?” he asked.

Josie stared at him blankly, startled by the question. “I—um, what?” she replied.

Jed waved his fork in the air. “Or, I mean, y’know,” he began. “People you’re close to. A… coven or something? Is that what the witches call it?”

Josie found herself a bit taken aback by the topic. “Uh,” she muttered. “A coven’s kind of... a different thing.”

Jed frowned, deflating like he was disappointed and staring down at his plate. “Oh,” he said sadly.

Josie frowned at the reaction, feeling a bit guilty for some reason. “But, I mean, I’m really close with Lizzie,” she blurted out.

Jed looked up. “Didn’t Lizzie go away to college?” he asked.

“Well, yeah,” Josie replied. “But we’re twins. We’ll always have that connection. And I call her a lot.”

Jed nodded, but then he looked like he was thinking for a moment. He shuddered. “I could never be that far from my pack,” he admitted with a shake of his head, picking up another piece of bacon. “I feel like I’d crawl out of my skin.”

Josie thought for a long pause, in turn. Lizzie moving away wasn’t really grating on her soul as much as she’d expected that it would. She’d managed to distract herself from how much she missed Lizzie pretty easily.

Distract herself with—

She swallowed thickly, forcing another gulp of orange juice. She was starting to get frustrated with her own brain. It just couldn't stop thinking about what had been going on with Hope.

She tried to force her mind back to the train of thought it had been derailed from. Being apart from Lizzie was much easier than anticipated, shockingly. It was certainly easier than it had been when she was younger

Just the thought of being too far from Hope, on the other hand…

“I feel that way about Hope,” Josie admitted suddenly, as though she were talking to herself. She blushed and stared down at her plate when she realized that she’d said it out loud.

Jed glanced up at her, his chewing slowing to a near halt for a moment before he swallowed. “Oh,” he replied thoughtfully, little inflection in his voice. He picked up his coffee. “That makes sense.”

Josie looked up, startled by the response. “What do you mean?” she asked slowly, a little suspicious that he might know something somehow.

Jed shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve been wondering why you smell so much like a wolf lately,” he said, more focused on his pancakes than on what he was saying. “Mikaelson must’ve claimed you.”

Josie’s blush intensified with the speed of a chemical reaction. She shifted awkwardly in her seat.

Jed wasn’t even looking up at her, as it turned out. He was far too interested in the bacon.

“Claimed me?” Josie echoed quietly, eying Jed warily like she was getting ready to run away.

Jed nodded. “As a part of her pack, I mean,” he elaborated, as though the suggestion were no big deal.

Josie was shocked. She just stared at him blankly for a long moment, not knowing how to respond.

Jed shoved a forkful of pancakes into his mouth, more or less ignoring her.

Josie cleared her throat. “But I’m not a wolf,” she said slowly, not knowing how to react. “Is that even possible?”

Jed shrugged once again. He glanced up at her, but Josie was surprised that he didn’t seem to be judging her at all. “Well, she’s not really like the rest of us,” he mused noncommittally. “She’s like… everything, right? Maybe she can blur the lines between pack and coven and… vampire cult, or whatever.”

Josie’s brow furrowed as she considered it, staring down at her plate.

She couldn’t be part of Hope’s pack. Not really, right? Maybe Hope’s brain could see her like she was, but that didn’t mean that she actually _was_.

Or maybe it did?

Josie didn’t really know how wolf-related things worked—not in much detail, anyway. But, surely, wolves couldn’t initiate non-wolves into their packs.

Right?

Jed interrupted her train of thought. “Hey, do you want any of the bacon or can I finish it?” he asked, his mouth full.

Josie blinked herself out of her trance, shaking her head a little to come back into the moment. “I’m—uh, I’m a vegetarian,” she muttered, feeling a bit ungrounded.

Jed scowled, looking like he was about to gag at just the thought of that. “Gross,” he muttered, shoveling the rest of the bacon onto his plate.

* * *

Hope was rifling through her backpack when Josie got back to the room. “Hey,” she called over her shoulder without turning around, hearing Josie shut the door behind her. “How was your date?”

Josie reflexively scoffed and rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t a date,” she practically sang.

Hope stood up straight and turned around, surprising Josie with a little smirk.

Josie watched her carefully, leaning against the door. “It was alright, though,” she said nonchalantly.

Hope nodded. “Good,” she said, zipping up her bag. “Your dad called.”

Josie frowned. “Why?” she asked, pushing herself off of the door.

“There was another attack last night,” Hope explained. “Not around here, though. Closer to the school. He wants us to come back and regroup.”

“Oh,” Josie said dumbly. She bit her lip. “So… useless trip, then,” she noted.

Hope didn't react for a long moment, staring Josie down instead. Then, she shrugged, giving the room an appraising glance. “I had fun,” she teased when her gaze made its way back to Josie, raising an eyebrow and smirking again.

Josie blushed.

* * *

“Your dad said that someone was in the room over, but she didn’t hear anything,” Hope said casually, not taking her eyes off of the road.

She’d somehow managed to convince Jed and Kaleb to let her drive. They were both in the backseat.

That left Josie the passenger seat. She licked her lips, glancing at Hope out of the corner of her eye. “Quiet monster?” she suggested.

Hope took a moment to respond. “Pretty gruesome crime scene, from what he told me,” she said.

Josie replied with a contemplative hum. “Maybe a silencing spell?” she mused.

Hope raised an eyebrow, glancing over her shoulder as she merged onto the highway. “You think it was a witch?” she asked, surprised.

Josie shrugged. “Maybe.”

Kaleb’s voice chimed in from the back. “Do y’all know a silencing spell?” he muttered under his breath, as if he hadn’t intended for them to hear.

Hope’s brow furrowed. She tried to glance at Kaleb through the rearview mirror, but it was unsuccessful. “Why?” she asked, sounding a bit defensive and confused. “You don’t want us to talk?”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Kaleb replied quickly, avoiding Josie’s gaze when she looked back at him over her shoulder. “Never mind.”

Josie frowned, looking back toward the front again with a furrowed brow. What was that supposed to mean? Why would he ask them if—

Oh.

Josie blushed more intensely than ever before and didn’t say another word until they got back to the school.

* * *

When Josie was with Hope, it was hard for her to remember anything else—her homework, her passwords, even how she got there to begin with.

It was all so overwhelming. All Josie could think about was how much she wanted to just surrender to it.

"God, you're so beautiful," Hope whispered hotly against her skin, trailing a line of kisses down Josie's ribcage.

Josie only whimpered softly in reply, her breathing a bit too erratic and her mind a bit too frazzled to think of anything else to say. 

Hope placed an open-mouthed kiss on the ridge of Josie's hipbone, staring up at her with intensity, her eyes dark and her pupils blown.

Josie writhed beneath her, an embarrassing whine tumbling out of her mouth without her permission.

Hope chuckled darkly at Josie's reaction, looking a lot like the predator she was. She rose back up slowly, leaving a lingering kiss on Josie's collarbone along the way. "You make the prettiest noises, too, y'know," she purred in Josie's ear.

Josie's breath hitched sharply in her throat when Hope slid a finger inside of her. " _Hope,"_ she breathed, her voice rattled.

Hope kissed her throat, her jaw—anything she could reach from her angle. "How's that feel?" she murmured. She added a second finger before Josie could respond.

Josie moaned to encourage her. "Perfect," she gasped. She threaded a hand through Hope's hair, pulling her back a little until she could make eye contact. "Kiss me—please."

Hope smiled, her eyes softening at the request. She curled her fingers, just to watch Josie unravel a little and revel in the sound she made, and then she leaned in—

Josie jerked awake with a gasp, sitting up quickly enough that she was left feeling a little bit dizzy.

She realized pretty quickly that she was in her bed, and realized a beat later that Hope was not with her.

_Fuck,_ she thought, running a hand through her hair as she tried to catch her breath with quite a bit of effort.

Josie jumped a mile when Lizzie's voice burst into her conscious awareness. “You were having a sex dream,” she observed casually, watching her from the other bed with a raised eyebrow. “ _Again._ ”

Josie stared at her, in shock. She'd nearly forgotten that Lizzie was back altogether. “I…,” she trailed off, blushing hard. She scrambled out of bed and headed toward her closet, trying to escape the awkward situation. “Shut up, Lizzie.”

“Well, who was it this time?” Lizzie asked, not the type to let things go. “Do you have a secret lover I don’t know about?”

Josie froze, faltering in her step.

By the time she recovered, it was too late.

Lizzie gasped. “ _Do you?!”_ she practically yelled, sitting up ramrod straight.

Josie grabbed a towel out of her closet, searching for her shampoo. “Of course not,” she said quickly. “I have to get ready for class.”

“It is 6:30 in the morning!” Lizzie called out to her dramatically, even as Josie slipped out the door like she was fleeing a crime scene. “This conversation isn’t over, Josette!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jed/Josie BROTP

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Let me know how you feel about this story, comments fuel me
> 
> Follow me on Twitter @Th3Nutcase
> 
> I've written other things, check them out if you want
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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